Torn
by Grave Bells
Summary: Lailie hasn't had the best life. Being atacked by Shadow Wolves, becoming a human and getter stabbed by her own father are just two of them. Now she's back in Halloween Town and avoiding her family as much as possible. Complete. PLEASE DON'T READ THIS CRA
1. Lailie's Wish

**An Unbearable Loss**

**Part 1: Lailie's Wish**

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT own anything from Nightmare Before Christmas, but I DO own Lailie, and if you steal her, UR A DEAD PERSON!**

Lailie sneaked through a graveyard at the edge of Halloween Town. She was wearing her normal long patchy dress with a spider design on it, patchy cloak, and dark purple sneakers. Her long Brown hair was up in a side ponytail in a purple band with spiders. She put up the hood on her cloak and made sure no one was coming before she walked into the Holiday Woods.

It had always been Lailie dream to have lived in another Holiday, for like her Father had 14 years ago; she had grown tired of Halloween. Everyday she would sneak off to the Holiday Forest and explore the other Holidays and be back by Dinner. Her favorites happened to be Easter and Christmas Town. She just wished her parents would let her live in another Holiday, even just for a week. But her Father had forbid her from entering the Holiday woods, fearing what he did the year before Lailie was born would be repeated.

Lailie stood in front of the Holiday Doors and debated which door to go in today. She had been in Easter, Christmas, and Thanksgiving already, so she walked over to the Valentines Day door, opened it, and jumped into the hollow trunk squealing with delight as she fell.

She landed on a soft bed of grass after a few seconds of falling. She sat up, spit out some grass, and looked around. There were children laughing and running around, people giving chocolates and little love notes to each other, and everyone seemed to be paired with another. Lailie smiled, which was a thing she rarely did back at home, sewed part of her leg back on, and ran down the hill towards the main part of Valentines Day Town.

She spent all day window shopping, and she even bought herself a little red heart box to remember her visit. She looked at her watch, which read 5:00 p.m.

"Oh geeze!! It's 5! Dad's gonna blow a gasket if I'm not home in 30 minutes!" Lailie said, running towards the forest at the edge of the town. It took her longer than she had expected to reach Halloween Town and just as she exited the Holiday Forest she ran into Jack's leg and fell over.

"Ouch…" She looked up "Uh oh…."

_**Back at Lailie's House….**_

"You went into another Holiday!" Jack yelled at his daughter, who was sitting in a chair in the Kitchen.

"So?! I'm tired of Halloween! I want something new and different!" Lailie yelled back at her father. Jack sighed and put his hand on his forehead.

"That's why I banned you from the Holiday Forest in the first place Lailie," Jack said.

"Because I want something different?! YOU'RE TELLING ME THAT'S A GOOD REASON TO STOP ME FROM DOING SOMETHING I LOVE?!" Lailie yelled.

"DON'T YOU EVER raise your voice to me AGAIN young lady! To your room, NOW!" Jack pointed up the stairs and watched Lailie stomp up to her room. Once he heard her slam her door, he sat down and sighed.

"Don't you think you were a bit hard on her?" Sally asked, sitting down next to Jack.

"I just don't want what happened with Christmas happen again…," Jack said, looking over at Sally.

"It won't happen again Jack. I know you're just trying to protect her, but she's not a little kid now, she's 13 and she needs just a bit more freedom."

"Well, I guess you're right. I'll tell her she's allowed to go in the Holiday Forest tomorrow morning."

But what Jack was planning to do would be soon interrupted when someone they thought was dead, had come back.

**W00t!!! End of part 1! For once, NO ONE FAINTED AT THE END OF THIS PART! Yay! No flames please, this is my first tNBC fic and I think this part turned at pretty good. **


	2. Randsom

**An Unbearable Loss**

**Part 2: Ransom**

Jack and Sally sat in the kitchen the next morning eating breakfast. Lailie hadn't come down yet, which seemed a little strange because she was usually downstairs eating by 10:00, and it was now 11:00.

"Lailie, Breakfast is ready!" Sally called upstairs. No answer. Sally walked upstairs.

"Lailie, are you up?" She knocked on the door to Lailie's room. No answer. She opened the door. She sat down next to the lump underneath the covers.

"Sweetie, I know you're upset about your father. But he wants to tell you something if you just come downstairs," She said sweetly.

"Who are you calling sweetie?!" Lock said, jumping up from under the covers, followed by Shock and Barrel. Sally screamed and was about to run, but the kids jumped on her, causing her to face plant into the ground.

Jack heard the scream and the thump and ran to the stairs.

"Sally?! Lailie?!" He asked, jumping up the steps two at a time. He pushed open the door to Lailie's room and gasped. Sally was curled up in a ball on the floor sobbing, her arm and her leg halfway across the room. The window was broken and the curtains were blowing eerily in the breeze.

"Sally, what happened?!" Jack asked, rushing over to help Sally.

"She's gone Jack…. They took her away," Sally said, sobbing into Jack's shirt.

"What?"

"They're gone… She's gone… They took her.."

"Who's gone?"

"She is…"

"Sally, you're not making any sense! I need some names."

"L-Lailie.."

"What about Lailie?"

"They took her…"

"Who did?"

"L-" She gulped "L-Lock, S-Shock, and B-Barrel."

"What?" This made Jack both confused and angry. Sally took a deep breath and wiped her eyes.

"L-Lock, Shock, and Barrel took Lailie." She said.

_**Later…….**_

Jack was walking around in Lailie's room. He was looking at all the little boxes and things she has gotten from other Holidays and wondered why he had never noticed them before. He saw a Snow globe from Christmas Town, a chocolate egg from Easter Town, a Turkey Plushie from Thanksgiving Town, and the little heart box from Valentines Day Town. He picked up the fragile box and opened it. Soft music starting coming from it and there were a man and a woman twirling around. Jack stared at it, his worried expression softening slightly. He watched the little people twirling around to the music. The music and people stopped abruptly and Jack sighed. He was about to put the box down when he noticed a small note in the box. He took the note, set the box down, and started reading. After a few minutes he dropped the note and put his hand on his forehead.

"D-Dear..," He choked, walking out of Lailie's room.

_**Meanwhile…......**_

"Hey! Stop it!!" Lailie cried, trying to back away from Shock and Barrel, who were untying her legs and arms. She grabbed her arm and foot and tried to run out of the stale room they had thrown her in, but was pulled back by Shock grabbing the neck of her Pajama shirt. She hit the floor and tears formed in her eyes as she looked up at them.

"That's right, starting crying like a little baby!" Barrel said mockingly.

"L-leave me alone," Lailie said, choking back her tears.

"No." Shock said, pulling on the string that connected Lailie's shoulder. Lailie smacked Shock with her detached leg and backed up from the two, tears streaming down her face.

"Ooohh, now you're gonna pay!" Shock said, raising her fist.

"Just leave her alone you guys," Lock said, grabbing Shocks wrist.

"Who's side are you on anyway?" Barrel asked, prying Lock's fingers off of Shock's wrist.

"Boogie told us to take her to her room, not to harass her once we get there," Lock said, nodding to Lailie.

"Whatever, c'mon Shock," Barrel said, turning to walk out of the room.

"Lock ruins all the fun," Shock said once she left the room.

"Th-thanks," Lailie choked, swallowing back some of her fear.

"No prob. Just tell me if they start picking on you again, Ok?" Lock said, winking at her.

"Ok..," Lailie said, nodding.

"I'll leave the door unlocked in case you need anything."

Why was Lock being so nice to me? I thought he was mean like Shock and Barrel? Lailie thought as she sewed back on her leg and arm with her needle and thread she kept with her. He's not anything like what the Mayor says about him… but he was right about Barrel and Shock.

**Bla da bla, yadda yadda hope you liked the part bla bla stay tuned yadda yadda.**


	3. Bleeding Wood and Strange Riddles

**An Unbearable Loss**

**Part 3: Bleeding Wood and Strange Riddles**

"Alright! Does everyone know where to search?" Jack asked the group of townspeople in front of him.

"Yes!" They responded.

"Then go and start searching!" He said, pointing at Boogie's old hideout. The townspeople scrambled in different directions around and in it.

"Jack…. Do you think she's alright?" Sally asked, clinging to Jack's arm.

"Well, I sure hope so..," Jack responded, sighing.

"Mommy!! Daddy!!" Three young voices said. An Eight year old girl and two 5 year old twin boys ran up to Jack and Sally.

The eight year old was wearing a frilly black and white dress with lace on it and black dressy shoes. Her almost white hair was in two fluffy, low pigtails with the ends dipped in black hair dye. The twins looked just like miniature Jacks, except they were wearing matching gray shirts and black pants and they both had a stitch coming from below one of their eyes that went to their chin.

"Oh, kids!" Sally said, gathering up her kids in a tight hug, tears at the corners of her eyes. The eight year old looked up at Jack.

"Daddy, why is Mommy crying? And where's LayLay?" She asked.

Later that night they were all sitting around the kitchen table back at home, eating their dinner quietly. Sally kept looking worriedly at Jack, and he kept returning the glance. This puzzled the kids since Jack hadn't said anything to them since they arrived, and he usually hugged them and said he was happy to see them after 4, long weeks at camp.

"Where's LayLay?" The eight year old asked for the 10th time that day. Jack and Sally looked at each other, then towards the kids.

"Jack, do you think we should tell them?" Sally asked, looking back at her husband "Everything, I mean. Even what happened to Lailie."

"It's either now or never," Jack responded. He turned to his children, who all had their heads tilted.

"Madison, Kevin, Kyle," He started "You know how every year you're mother and I always leave home for the evening on December 24?"

_**Meanwhile……**_

Lailie shivered in her Pajama tank top and shorts. It wasn't from cold, no, the room was quite warm. But she shivered anyway, like she had just had ice water dumped on her head. She got off the rickety bed and walked over to the body mirror at the other end of the room ad stared at all the stitches on her body.

There was one across her forehead, around her neck, one around each shoulder, one around her right elbow, one around her left wrist, one that ran between her middle and ring finger on her left hand, one sideways across the top part of her leg on each side, one around her knees, and one around her ankles. She felt very strange having all these stitches and wished she didn't have any like her sister Madison, but she couldn't do anything about it but blame Sally for all of them.

She stared her reflection and her mind raced.

Why am I here? Who is this 'Boogie' anyway? Why does he want me, and not someone else? Why is Lock being so nice while Shock and Barrel are so mean? Why aren't Mom and Dad coming to help me? Do they even know I'm gone? Do they even care? All these questions crossed her mind as she stared at her reflection.

"Well…. I guess everything happens for a reason. I wonder what mom and dad are doing..," She sighed, lifting her left hand and touching the glass softly. It rippled like a pool of water and a glowing green smoke swirled, fogging Lailie's reflection. She gasped and pulled her hand away. The glass rippled again and the green smoke cleared, showing an image of her parents and her siblings sitting around the kitchen table talking. Lailie's eyes widened as she stared at the image of her family. She watched her sister start to stomp around shaking her fists. Lailie smiled as she watched Jack try to calm her down. But her smile faded when she noticed her family had tears streaming down their faces. She sighed and lifted her hand and softly touched the mirror again. It rippled and in a swirl of green smoke she was looking at her reflection again.

Her door opened and Lailie's head darted to the side. Lock walked in, a bowl of soup and bread in his arms. She sighed and walked over to him.

"I managed to swipe some soup and bread for you," He said, handing her the bowl and bread. Lailie took them and smiled softly.

"Thanks Lock….. But… why are you doing all this for me?" She asked, tilting her head at him. He blushed slightly.

"W-Well….. I don't really agree with the Boogie's plans and… well….. I just want to make you feel at home while you're here," He said, putting his hand behind his head, blushing a little more.

"Nothing can make me ever feel at home again…. Not even my real home," Lailie said, sitting down on the bed and stirring the soup slowly.

"Why do you say that?" Lock sat down next to her and Lailie looked at the ceiling.

"It's just…. My dad seems to hate everything I do, my sister and my brothers' favorite thing to do is bug me half to death, plus the fact that my room seems to shrink while my brothers' and sister's rooms keep getting enlarged, and I hate all these stitches." She sighed "It's like I wish I'd never been born….."

"Don't say that. Everyone has a purpose in life."

"Yeah! But A Rag doll like you doesn't!!" Barrels voice called from the doorway. Lock growled at him and Lailie just sighed and looked back at her soup.

"What are you doing here?" He scowled at Barrel.

"What are YOU doing here? Boogie wanted us to find out where those other dweebs are!" Barrel responded stubbornly.

"I don't want to help Boogie out anymore! I'm starting to get annoyed by him!" Lock said.

"Hmph. I though you were loyal to him."

"I was, 14 years ago!"

"Whatever. C'mon, we need to keep looking for those other kids." Barrel walked to over Lock and drug him out of the room, slamming the door behind them. Lailie looked towards the door as it shut and heard a thump on the bed post right next to her. Her eyes widened as she looked at the knife that was stuck deep into the shiny wood. The sound of Shock's laugh echoed through the air, then so did the words, "Next time, I won't miss!" Lailie grabbed the hilt of the knife and worked it out of the wood. The blade was covered in a thick, red blood. She wiped the blade with her finger and studied it, then noticed a small trickle of blood coming from the gash in the wood.

"Sorry, that place is abandoned, Jack," The Mayor told Jack the next day. Jack sighed and stared at Boogie's old hide-out, which had A LOT of webs on it.

"But, we did find this letter. It's addressed to you..," The Mayor continued, taking an envelope out of his pocket and handing it to Jack. Jack opened the new looking envelope with his finger and took out a small note. It read:

_Jack,_

_I'm old, but new_

_My colors have changed,_

_And so will you.._

_If you wish to keep fighting,_

_Here's a clue:_

_In the early morning,_

_When all the 'Dew'_

_Comes to a 'Point',_

_She'll be waiting on a 'Cliff',_

_Waiting, for you._

Jack looked up from the riddle and was about to talk to the Mayor, but he had already hurried away. He looked around, and seeing no sign of the Mayor, left to go back home to consult the strange riddle with Sally.

**Wtf? What's all that Mumbo Jumbo mean? Haha! WAIT! xP**


	4. The Losses Are Just Beginning

**An Unbearable Loss**

**Part 4: The Losses are just beginning**

"That clue makes no sense…," Sally said, staring at the riddle.

"Wait…. I think those words in quotations are a clue inside the clue," Jack said, grabbing another piece of paper and a pencil. He looked at the note and wrote down 'Dew', 'Point', and 'Cliff'.

"Dew Point Cliff! That's it!" He exclaimed.

"What's it?" Sally asked.

"Dew Point Cliff is a cliff at the edge of town, and I think this note is saying that Lailie's waiting for us there," Jack responded, hoping he was right. There was a loud yelp and the couple looked up from the paper. There were a few barks, then some squeals, shattering, then silence. The two looked at each other.

"Zero?" Jack called up the stairs from the kitchen. Sally got up and walked to the stairs, Jack following. They walked up the stairs and looked at the half open door to their bedroom.

"Didn't I shut this?" Jack asked. He pushed open the door and walked in.

"Zero?" He called "Zero? Here boy!"

"Jack.. look," Sally said, pointing to the broken window with Zero's collar impaled on a glass shard. Jack walked over to the window slowly and took the collar off the glass. He stared at it and closed his fingers around it sadly.

"Sally… We're going to need to keep a very careful watch over Madison, Kyle and Kevin. Someone or something is trying to get at us," He said, turning to her. Sally nodded and left the room. Jack walked the perimeter of the room but stopped once he heard a low whine. He rushed back over to the window and stuck his head out. He looked around, but saw nothing until he heard the whine a little louder. He looked down and saw a very in pain Zero lying on some sharp bushes below. In a flash Jack was out the door and to the aid of his dog.

"Zero! Zero what happened?" He asked, picking up the injured dog. Zero just whined quietly and looked up at his master, the large gash in his neck trickling a pale blue blood-like substance. Jack stood up and tried to smile at his dog.

"D-Don't worry Zero, you'll be fine," Jack said, sadly. Zero weakly licked Jack's face once and shut his eyes. Jack shut his eyes and put his forehead to Zero's. A small piece of paper flew into the side of Jack's face, causing him to lift his head. He took the piece of paper and unfolded it. He looked at the one sentence, which read:

_The losses are just beginning._

"We got his dog, sir!" Shock told a star-shaped shadow in the corner of a large, dark room.

"Excellent job," the shadow told them "Any signed of the other three kids?"

"No sir. We had broken into his house to find them when the dog attacked us."

"Hmm… did you leave the note?"

"Yes sir!"

"Good…. Bring me Azalia. I have some more jobs for her."

"Right away." Shock left the room. A few minutes later a fairy entered the large room. But she didn't look like an ordinary fairy. Her body was star-shaped and her face seemed to stay chibi styled. Her earth brown hair was streaked with grass green and up in a ponytail that reached to the end of her body. She had an annoyed look on her face, was wearing a maid hat and was carrying a scrub brush and a pale of water.

"What do you want now Boogie?" She called across the room to the shadow.

"I have some things I need done, Azalia," Boogie responded.

"Does that mean I get to stop cleaning toilets?!" Azalia asked excitedly.

"Yes…." Boogie said.

"WHOO!! IN YOUR FACE, BUCKET!!" Azalia exclaimed, throwing the bucket and the brush onto the floor and doing a little victory jig.

"I need you to find the Skellingtons' other children. Their oldest child won't tell us anything."

Azalia stopped dancing.

"Listen, Boogie, I may have told you I'll work for you, but I'm NOT getting involved in you're revenge on What's-His-Face!"

"You better do what I say! I can always give you back to those angry Leprichons in St. Patrick's Day Town!"

"Heh heh…. What do you need me to find out?"

"Figure out what the Skellingtons are doing tomorrow and report back to me."

"But-"

"You're my maid, so go finish you're duties!"

"You mean cleaning toilets?"

"NO!! WHAT DID I JUST TELL YOU TO DO?!"

"Right! Sorry! I'm gone!"

Azalia flew from the room in a flash, shutting the door as she went. She glided down the hall, muttering to herself and went. She stopped when she heard Lock, Shock, and Barrel talking in their room. She peeked around the door framed at the three.

"Isn't strange how it's like we haven't really aged at all?" she heard Barrel say.

"Yeah, it's like since the day Jack killed Boogie our Birthdays didn't come at all. We only started to age again when we re-built him 3 years ago…," Shock responded.

"Yeah, each of our birth months skipped our birthdays. Like in September it went 14, 16! And my birthday is on the 15th!" Lock said, belly flopping onto is bed.

"We were what, 11 and 12 when Jack tried to make Christmas? It's been 14 years since then and look at us! We're 13 and 14!" Barrel said, tossing his magazine aside "We even look 13 and 14!"

"So that means Lock isn't a perv for liking that Skellington girl!" Lock said, smiling at Lock.

"Hey! I don't like her!" Lock complained.

"Yes you do! You stopped me from hitting her and stuff her first night here. Plus you keep sneaking her visits and food and stuff."

"So? I'm merely being kind to her."

"Kind? Since when we're you kind?"

"Since I realized how much freedom I had when Boogie wasn't around."

"That's why we made him out of red fabric?"

"Precisely."

"I don't get it…"

Azalia giggled slightly at the conversation and turned to leave, but stopped when she heard something terrible.

"You know, Boogie is gonna invite Jack and Sally to watch her die once they figure out that riddle and come up here to find her."

**Dun dun DUN! Please don't complain to me about how Zero is a ghost and can't get slashed and stuff like that! I know! Can we all pretend Shock had some special thing that injured him? Pppppllleeeaaassseee???**


	5. Help

**An Unbearable Loss**

**Part 5: Help……..**

"WHAT?!" Azalia screamed, darting into the room. Barrel looked at the fairy, then to Lock and Shock, then back to Azalia.

"Huh?" He said.

"Boogie is going to KILL that poor girl?!" The fairy screamed, turning her pointy hands into fists.

"No. Its gunna be a set up to make Jack and Sally feel even more miserable."

"WHO WOULD DO SUCH A THING?! I FEEL SORRY FOR THEM!!"

"Calm down Azalia! Boogie is going let her go after that!" Lock said, and then turned to the others. "Right?"

"Now way, man! He's gunna wait for her to commit suicide before sending them the body!" Shock said, shivering with delight and smiling. Azalia blinked, then steamed.

"I CAN'T **_BELIEVE _**I WORK FOR SUCH A HEARTLESS MEANIE!! THIS NO WAY FOR PRINCESSES TO BE TREATED!" she screamed, picking up a ceramic pumpkin and tossing it at the three.

"'Princesses'?" Barrel asked, ducking.

"Yeah, PRINCESSES! I'm the earth princess of St. Patrick's Day town! And isn't that girl the princess of… whatever this place is?!"

"She's the Pumpkin Princess, and what's an 'earth princess'?"

"An earth princess is the daughter of the King and Queen earth fairies. Fairies live in just about every holiday and the one's who live in St. Patrick's Day Town happen to be earth fairies."

"Whatever, can you leave now so we can go to bed? Its 11:00 and I wanna get some sleep before tomorrow's big events!" Shock asked, shivering with excitement again, then pulling the sheets of her bed over her body. Azalia pouted and floated from the room, mumbling to herself again and turning out the light behind her.

She grabbed her jacket and left the underground hideout on top of Dew Point Cliff and flew down to the main part of Halloween town. She floated in every direction trying to find someone who could tell her the way to Jack's house. She flew up to the three people who always sit outside Jack's gate.

"Excuse me? Do you know where… Jack.. Skellington lives?" She asked them, taking a bit to remember his name. One of them pointed to the house behind the gate and yawned.

"Oh.. Thanks!" She said, smiling at him, and flew over the gate and towards the door. She flew up to the door and was about to find a way to sneak in, but decided she wasn't going to follow Boogies instructions and she rang the doorbell. There was a screech, then a male voice yelled, "Go away!" She pouted and rang the doorbell again; same response.

"But sir! This is important!!" She called through the door.

"How Important? Now isn't the time!"

"It's urgent! It's about your daughter!" The door swung open and Azalia looked up at Jack, who seemed like a sky scraper compared to her. He looked around.

"Hello?" He asked, not seeing anybody. The fairy flew up to reach his level and waved. She wiped some sweat off her forehead. She was exhausted from all the flying and it had taken her a great deal of strength to get up to Jack's eye level.

"You look tired, want to come in?" He asked, holding out his hand for Azalia to land on.

"Sure, thanks a lot," She responded, sitting down on his hand. He shut the door and walked into the kitchen.

"So, you have some news about Lailie?" Jack asked, setting her on the table and sitting down next to Sally, who looked at Azalia. Azalia nodded.

Jack and Sally ran up Dew Point Cliff as fast as they could the next morning. It took about 30 minutes of non-stop running to reach half way.

"Jack… I'm….. tired…… can't…. we… rest a….. bit?" Sally panted, stopping.

"Alright, but for a few seconds. We need to get to the top," Jack responded, stopping. They rested for about 5 minutes and started on their way again. It was about 1:00 pm when they reached the top, and they had left home at about 11:00 am. When they reached the top they saw Lailie lying at the edge, her hair down and half covering her face. She seemed to be sleeping. Jack and Sally sighed with relief and started for her.

"Where do you think you're goin'?" a familiar voice said behind them. They turned and looked at Boogie, who seemed the same since they last saw him. Except one thing, he wasn't green anymore, he was red.

"Boogie?!" Jack said. Boogie just chuckled.

"Nice work for telling them to come here Azalia," He said. Azalia peeked out from behind Boogie very timidly, hoping Jack didn't see her, but she knew she had to respond to Boogie or she would get punished.

"T-Thank you, s-sir….," She said quietly, looking straight at Jack in fear. Jack glanced at Azalia in shock.

"Y-YOU WORK FOR HIM?!" he shouted, snatching the fairy out from behind Boogie and holding her up to his eye level.

"Y-Yes….," She responded, tears forming in her eyes.

"SO THEN YOU DON'T REALLY CARE, DO YOU?!"

"I….."

"WELL?!"

"I'm sorry, I was just following orders….." Jack was about to yell again but he noticed her expression. Her eyes were shut, her elf-like ears drooped and tears were streaming down her face. He sighed and let go of her, then looked at Sally. She had an expression on that said 'Wanna make a run for it?'. Jack nodded and they both turned and darted for Lailie, who was becoming conscious again. Lailie blinked awake and held her upper body up by her hands. She heard running and turned her head to see a blurry vision of her parents, which was soon covered by a curtain of red. Her hair covered most of her eyes, and she was weak for some reason, so all she could do was listen as she fought to get up all the way.

"Listen buddy, you aren't going to save her, no matter how hard you try," Boogie said.

"Just watch me," Jack said through gritted teeth. Lailie heard this and her mind raced again. Does he really love me? Why didn't he come for me sooner? Is he really telling the truth? Or is he just lying again? Her train of thought was interrupted by three high voices.

"Leave LayLay alone, you big meanie!" She heard her sister yell.

"Yea! Weve her awone!!" Her brothers' yelled. Lailie was about to screech with delight that her whole family had come to help her, but her wind pipe was cut off when Boogie grabbed her neck and lifted her up suddenly. She tried to scream now, but all that came out was a silent cough.

"So…. You brought the whole family? I'd expected better from you Jack. Letting you're Wife and Kids fight your battles, eh? Well, back off or this one'll be pushing up daisies on the rocks just below this cliff!" Boogie said. Lailie opened one eye as she grabbed at Boogie's hand. She could barely see the frightened expressions on her family members.

"You wouldn't dare," Jack said, getting ready to punch at him.

"Oh, but I would!" Boogie responded, holding Lailie over the edge of the cliff. She struggled and gasped for air, but dared not to struggle too much, or she could be dropped over the edge.

"Boogie, just set her down, or I won't have to hurt you," Jack said, suppressing an angry yell.

"YOU?! Hurt ME?! Hahahahahaha!!" Boogie laughed, dodging Jack's oncoming fist "Say 'bye-bye', Jackie!" and with that, he dropped Lailie off the side of the cliff.

**x.x dang this part took me awhile for some reason……….. oo;;;; what's gunna happen with Lailie?!**


	6. Shadow Wolves

**An Unbearable Loss**

**Part 6- Shadow Wolves**

Jack fell to his knees and reached her his daughter's outstretched hand as she fell. But… she was already too far from the grass peak of the cliff for him to grab her hand.

Lailie's eyes seemed to have no expression as she fell. The only hint of expression was how wide they were. Her knees were up and her hand was still outstretched as she fell on her back towards the sharp rocks below. For an instant she had thought Jack really cared for her. Why didn't he just have backed off and not taken the risk? She watched Jack fade from sight and could just imagine him chuckling and wiping away some acting tears, then patting Boogie on the back and walking off with Sally, Madison, Kyle, and Kevin. She felt something catch her shirt, and then heard it tear. A sharp pain entered her back as she grazed the side of a sharp rock. She sent out a blood curdling scream that would scare the pants off of any person in Halloween Town.

Jack, who had been hitting the ground repeatedly in anger and sadness, heard the scream echo up from the harsh waters and jagged rocks below. He opened his eyes and his anger exploded and he attacked Boogie. Azalia screamed and was gone in a black blur. Sally darted over to Jack and tried to pry him off of Boogie, but was thrown off. Boogie grabbed Jack and threw him into the ground. Jack stood up, as did Boogie.

"You're getting old, Jack. You were a lot tougher before you got married to that pathetic rag-doll," Boogie sneered. Jack growled and was about to attack Boogie again when he felt someone tugging on his pant leg. He looked down and the three tear-stained faces of Madison, Kevin and Kyle.

"No more, daddy! No more…," Madison said, bursting into tears afterwards. Jack's expression softened as he looked at his daughter. He noticed how much she had started to look like Lailie when she was six.

"I hereby banish you from Halloween Town for an act of Murder. The Mayor and I will see to it that you are placed the Realm of Shadows until further notice," He said to Boogie, his angry expression coming back.

"You really think you can place me in the Realm of Shadows!" Boogie asked, chuckling "I'm afraid not. Bye bye Jackie! Hahaha!" In another black blur Boogie was gone. Jack growled and swore under his breath, then turned to see Lock and Barrel standing at their way down from the cliff.

"What are you doing here! Move!" Jack snarled, walking over to them.

"Um… We need to tell you something, sir," Lock said, staring scaredly up at the skeleton.

"I'm listening," Jack said through clenched teeth.

"Well, um….," Lock started.

"Look, this whole thing was a set up! Lailie isn't dead, but when we tried to catch her, her shirt ripped and she got a pretty big gash in her back before we were able to grab her!" Barrel blurted out impatiently. Jack's expression softened with relief and he sighed, as did Sally.

"How badly is she bleeding? When will we be able to see her again? Is there no way for us to get her back any time soon? Is she-" Jack asked quickly.

"Whoa whoa whoa! Slow down! We've bandaged her up and Lock and I were on our way to buy her a new pair of clothes she can wear 'till we are able to sneak her out of the hideout."

"Shock is still pretty loyal to Boogie, but we've convinced her to make a potion for Lailie to drink that will change her appearance a bit, but it's only going to be temporary," Lock added in.

"Thanks for telling us this you two. I guess you guys aren't that bad after all," Sally said trying to cover up some tears.

"Yeah, Lock even likes Lailie enough that he would do all this and force me to come with him," Barrel mumbled. Lock elbowed him.

"Shut it!" He hissed "And I don't like her."

'Right. Anyway, see ya later, Sir! Ma'am." And with that the two Trick-Or-Treaters ran down the side of the cliff towards town.

Jack looked at Sally and noticed the sadness, but relief in her eyes as she picked up the twins. He knew she wanted to see Lailie again, as did he. But for some reason, he felt so detached from her as a father, like there was part of him who didn't really know the real Lailie. He had felt that way ever since the Halloween after Lailie had turned 12, and no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't remember her between the ages of 6 and 12; like she had just disappeared.

Jack was snapped out of when he heard screeches coming from his family members. He looked behind him to see wolf-like creatures that seemed to be ripped from the shadows of the cliff. All but their colored eyes were pitch black and seemed to trail the shadows of the cliff as they ran towards Sally, Madison and the twins. Jack ran to his family's aid, but was forced to the ground by about 7 of the wolf-like creatures while the rest of the pack snatched at the children and pushed Sally away from them. Sally quickly grabbed a stick and started smacking the creatures away from her children while Jack struggled to get up and help her. He smacked the leader, who was carrying Madison in his jaws, and sent him skidding across the dirt. He disappeared in a puff of smoke and left Madison. The others backed off and blocked their path off the cliff, leaving Kevin and Kyle clinging to Madison in fear. Jack got up and ran over to his children and gathered them up in his arms.

Sally panted and wiped sweat from her forehead as she dropped the stick. She felt something rush behind her, then felt a hand on her left side and a knife go into her right side. Her pupils turned small and blank and heard a low male voice whisper into her ear, "I don't like it when people interfere with my work." The knife left Sally's side and she collapsed on the ground. Jack turned his head when he heard the thump and saw Sally on the ground with her side bleeding non-stop. He rushed over to her after setting his kids down and sat down on his knees and held her head in his lap, then looked at the silhouette of a man Sally's size, holding a knife. His glowing white eyes were all he could see of his features, and they looked angry.

"Who-Who are you? Why are attack us? Why did you hurt my wife?" Jack asked, getting angry himself. The shadow on the man seemed to blow away in little pieces in an invisible wind. It unveiled a man with long, shaggy black hair, white eyes with a white scar underneath the right eye, and elf like ears that seemed to flicker away like fire at the tips. He was wearing a net shirt covered in chains, army print baggy pants with a slanted belt with two sheathes on it, and combat boots. He licked the end of the knife in his hand with an evil grin on, acting as if he were making fun of Jack.

"Don't you recognize me pops?" He said, chuckling evilly and returning the knife to it's sheathe. Jack just looked at the man, taking a handkerchief out of his pocket and tending to Sally's wound.

"Heh, I guess not. After all, the last time you saw me was a while ago. I didn't think you'd remember me. The name 'Mace' sound familiar?" The man asked. Jack looked up at him.

"Yeah, that's the name of a boy Lailie used to hang out with," he said "But I don't have time for this. I need to find a doctor right away." He turned and looked at the barrier of Wolf Creatures blocking his path.

"Sorry pops, You can't leave yet. I'm Mace, and do you want another loss in the family? Or will you just turn over your other kids and save Sally," The man said, holding out a hand to Jack. Jack turned and glared at him.

"Neither. And I don't believe you're Mace. Mace used to be kind and sweet, not some raving lunatic! I have enough people on my family's case right now, so let me pass or I'll banish you."

"To the 'Realm of Shadows'? Ha! I **_LIVE_** in the realm of shadows, buddy. My friends and I here are Shadow Wolves. We live in The Realm of Shadows and in the forest."

"Let me pass Mace. NOW."

"Gimme your kids and they'll move."

"No! Whaddya want with them!"

"I have a deal to fulfill. And my half is to get Madison, Kyle, and Kevin Skellington. Which would be THEM" Mace pointed the kids who were huddled in a circle clutching each other. Jack growled.

"If Sally dies, I'll kill you," He said.

"Oh ho ho ho! Trying to sound tough, eh pops? SOUNDING tough is nothing like BEING tough. Another thing you need to learn."

"Jack!" The mayor's voice called. Jack looked over and saw the Mayor waddling up the cliff towards them carrying a mirror. Jack sighed with relief as he approached the pack of Shadow Wolves.

"Jack, I saw the whole thing from my office!" The Mayor said.

"That's great Mayor, but I just need to get to a doctor and have someone help my kids!" Jack said, looking down at Sally, who had a painful look on her face.

"Not to worry! I've read all about Shadow Wolves and they hate extreme light!" The Mayor said, holding the mirror at the sun. The kaleidoscope-like glass send sun beams everywhere, causing every wolf in the pack to roar and disappear in a puff of smoke, including Mace, who growled, "I'll be back pops! You just wait!" as he puffed away. Jack ran past the mayor, telling him to take his kids back to his house. He ran into town and headed for Doctor Finklestein's place, hoping he could do something about Sally's condition; after all, he made her. He knows more about her than anyone else in Halloween Town. Jack just hoped she hadn't lost too much blood in the time it had taken him to get there.

**Damn this part was hard for me to write. ''' I'm taking a break, my fingers hurt. I acually Half-Own Mace. My friend (who is on this site but I forgot her sn) owns him also. Oh, and Plz vote for either Lock X Lailie or Mace X Lailie, cuz Mace liketh her too. **


	7. Death Isn't as Bad as it Seems

**An Unbearable Loss**

**Part 7: Death Isn't As Bad As It Seems**

(A/N: Gah, sorry. This part takes place 2 months after the last part. I thought of this and I'm too eager to write it, so here I am, writing a part that probably won't make too much sense to you guys. Plus it's going to be short. Just try to bear with me, k?)

_**Two Months Later…….**_

"Jack, what are we going to do?" Sally asked sitting upright in bed one night, "It's been two months, and we haven't heard anything from Lock or Barrel."

"Just try and stay cool Dear, We'll think of something. You need to stop worrying so much. Lailie's a big girl now and I don't think Lock would let anything bad happen to her," Jack said, getting into bed.

"But what if?" Sally started.

"Sally, she'll be fine for a few more days. You need to get some rest. We're going to see Dr. Finklestein tomorrow so he can sew up the wound in your side and you need to have your energy."

"But-"

"Goodnight Sally." And at that he turned off the light.

_**Meanwhile……..**_

Lailie paced around her room, depression and sadness lurking in every step she took. She wanted to get out of here, but couldn't find a way out. The door was always locked, the ground had been replaced with cement after she had tried to pry up the floor boards 2 weeks before, and the window had thick steel bars inside the glass. She walked over to the mirror and stared at herself.

She was wearing a yellow, long-sleeve shirt with a white bow at the collar, a pink and white skirt, pink dressy shoes and long white socks. She had never been fond of the color pink, or even yellow for that matter, but this was the only outfit she had thanks to Lock and Barrel. Once Lock had handed her the clothes she didn't like them, but swore she'd treasure them for as long as she lived.

She looked at the clock on the wall, which read 11:00 and decided to not check up on her family. She knew they would all be sleeping, and knew she should be too. She walked over to the bed and sat down, pondering how she could end this. She looked over at the end table and remembered the knife that had been stuck in the wood of the bed. She opened the drawer, pulled out the knife and held it in front of her to study it. It had blood from the wood of the bed still caked on the shiny, silver blade, and even on the ivory handle.

She stared at the knife and realized what the only way for her to escape all this was. She got up, stood in front of the bed, held the knife in two hands, and raised it over her head. She took a deep breathe, and was about to send the knife straight into her chest when two hands grabbed hers and held them back.

"Nnn! Leggo!" She exclaimed, thrashing slightly, not knowing who it was.

"Lailie! What are you doing!" Lock cried, keeping a firm grip on her hands.

"I'm ending all of this! I can't take it anymore!"

"There's another way to do this! You just have to be patient!"

"Like what! I've been sitting her for almost half a year! And if they really loved me they would have come after me by now!"

"What?"

"I-if they really loved me I w-wouldn't be here…." Lailie broke down and let her arms go limp in Lock's grasp. Tears streamed down her face as Lock took the knife from her hands and tossed it aside.

"If who loved you?"

"M-Mom and Dad….."

"Lailie… of course they love you!"

"Then why haven't they come for me yet!"

"There's other ways of taking care of this besides committing suicide!"

"Death isn't as bad as it seems, Lock."

"How would you know?"

"I've died before."

Lock looked at Lailie's face. It was covered in falling tears. Angry tears. Sad tears. Depressed tears. Tears that seemed to reflect the hardships she went through growing up. His mind raced as he stared at her, wondering what she meant in his life, wondering what she meant by she had died before, wondering why she seemed so sad. He couldn't calm her down; he couldn't even get her to stop crying for a second so he could tell her something; anything.

"Lailie, stop crying."

"No body loves me….."

"Lailie…"

"No body…."

His mind started going haywire. He couldn't think straight. Thoughts were jumbled together, making him confused. He couldn't calm her down, he couldn't figure out what was going on, he couldn't even sort through his own mind. He didn't know what he was doing anymore as he leaned in on Lailie…..

Lailie's eyes shot open once she felt Lock's lips touch hers. She stared at him, her tears stopping. She wanted to pull away, but at the same time didn't, like she was being hypnotized.

After about 10 seconds, Lock realized what he was doing and quickly pulled away, blushing furiously.

"I.. I'm sorry!" He said, rushing from the room, shutting the door as he fled. Lailie stared after him, a hand on her mouth. She was shocked at what he had just done, but somehow felt ok with it. Once, her friend Mace had tried to kiss her and she slapped him. Ever since then she had hated any guy who tried to give her a kiss, even a hug. She would always slap them. But this time, she hadn't seemed to mind, like the girly girl flower inside of her was starting to bloom.

"You know, that wasn't a real kiss," A cold voice said from behind her. She jumped and spun around to see Mace sitting on the window ledge inside the room. He had his legs crossed and he was playing with one of his knives.

"How…. Did you get in here Mace?" She asked, lifting her index finger lazily.

"Hey, I'm a shadow wolf. I can do anything," He said, jumping down and putting the knife away "Besides, I heard you need help." Lailie stared up into Mace's cold, white eyes as he put his finger under her chin.

"Don't touch me," She said coldly, pushing his hand away and walking towards the mirror on the wall.

"I overheard that you wanted to die again."

Lailie stopped and looked at him.

"So?"

"Last time you died, I died. We died together, which is probably the reason why Death didn't seem so horrible."

"Your point?"

"I thought maybe we should die again. Both of us; at the same time. You want to end all this and I want to mess with the pack's heads a little."

"I don't want to die with an idiot."

"C'mon Eli!"

"DON'T EVER call me Eli again! That was before we died, and I don't like being called that anymore!"

"Hmph. Remember how good of friends we were before we came back to Halloween Town, Eli? When we were Humans?"

"Yes. That was before you were a stupid jerk."

"Heh. I'll never forget the day we died….."

_**flashback mode**_

"Ha ha! C'mon Nickie! Let's go to this house!" Eliza (Lailie) yelled as she crossed the street in her Halloween costume.

"Hee! Comin' Eli!" Nick (Mace) yelled as he followed her, also in his costume. They saw a bright light headed for them and theirs heads turned just enough to see a truck headed straight for them. They tried to dodge it, but after a few seconds of pain, they went unconscious, to never wake up again. Or so they thought……

Eliza woke up on a black hill, her foot and arm sitting detached from her body. She sat up slowly, scared and confused. She looked around franticly for Nick, but only saw a pitch-black wolf that trailed the shadows of the night laying unconscious beside her. She screamed and tried to back away from it, but couldn't move very well since her arm and foot were missing. She noticed her arm and foot and screamed again, then felt two bony arms wrap around her.

"Lailie! You're back!" a voice said behind her. Eliza screamed again and struggled in Jack's hug.

"EEEKKK! Lemme Go!" She screamed.

"Lailie, what's wrong with you? Don't you know me?" Jack asked, turning her around.

_**flashback mode ends**_

"Yeah…" Lailie said, staring at the ceiling.

"Heh, It took me forever to master becoming Human," Mace said, putting his hands behind his head.

"It took me forever to get used to Mom and Dad…," Lailie said, then sighed and tapped the mirror. It rippled and showed an image of her parents in bed. Well…. Jack in bed, and Sally rolling off onto the floor. She giggled and had the mirror zoom in on Sally, where she noticed a bloody bandage wrapped around her waist.

"What? What happened to mom?" She asked out loud, mainly to herself.

"Oh that… Well…," Mace started, walking up behind her "Ya see, I kinda sorta stabbed her in the side because she kinda sorta got in the way of my work… Kinda Sorta." Lailie spun angrily on her heel and looked up at Mace.

"YOU STABBED HER! HOW COULD YOU! YOU BITCH!" She yelled, not meaning to swear at Mace.

"Since when did you swear!" He asked, backing up a little.

"SINCE RIGHT NOW, DAMMIT!"

"Dude, swearing is bad."

"What! And YOU haven't sworn before?"

"Dude, settle down!"

"NO! YOU FRICKEN STABBED MY MOM!"

"Eli-"

"GET OUT!

**Ok…. So it wasn't as short as I thought. but hey, It was a good part, right-nudge nudge- Hee, and BTW, thanks for ur votes! It turned out that Lock x Lailie had the most votes, so I'm adding in a fight between Mace and Lock. xDD Stay Tuned!**


	8. Oops

**An Unbearable Loss**

**Part 8: Oops……**

"But-"

"OUT, DAMMIT! OUT!" Lailie pushed Mace angrily towards the window until Mace was pressed up against the glass.

"Dude, what is wrong with you!" Mace yelled, spinning around and pushing Lailie onto the floor. Lailie stared up at him, every inch of her giving off an aura of distaste.

"What's going on in here!" Azalia yelled, bursting through the door, followed by Lock, Shock and Barrel.

"What are you doing to her!" Lock said angrily, rushing over to Lailie and helping her up.

"Wow, I can't believe you would show your face around her after that kiss, kid," Mace sneered. Lock blushed.

"That's none of your business!" Lock said. Shock's eye twitched a few times, which made Barrel and Azalia sweat drop.

"Don't talk to him!" Lailie yelled, about to lunge at Mace. Lock grabbed Lailie's arms and held her back.

"Chill Lailie!" He said. Lailie growled and shook herself free from Lock's grasp. Mace snickered.

"See ya," He paused "Eli." Mace was gone in a puff of black smoke and Lailie steamed and groaned.

"AAARRRGG! MACE PISSES ME OFF SO MUCH!" She fumed angrily, pacing around for no absolute reason.

"Just chill already. Shock finished a potion that will change your appearance for a short while so we can get you out of here," Barrel said, watching Lailie pace. She stopped and ran over to Barrel.

"REALLY!" she asked, getting up into his face.

"Uh.. yeah," Barrel responded, backing up a bit. Lailie screeched and jumped up and down with excitement.

"Just drink the freaking potion already!" Shock complained, holding out a glass of smoking purple liquid.

"Hey Shock? Shouldn't that be orange, not green?" Lock asked as Lailie started to drink the potion.

"Oopsie!" Shock said, trying to fake innocence. Lailie dropped the glass and started to cough continuously.

"What's cough in that cough stuff!" She asked, starting to choke slightly. Barrel and Lock looked at Shock, who shrugged.

"Just stuff..," Shock said. Lailie looked at Shock, who had an odd expression of mystery and joking mixed. A pain suddenly cracked down her body like lightning bolt to a tree. She screamed and collapsed on the ground, holding her head painfully until she passed out a few moments later.

She woke up after being unconscious for who knows how long to whispering voices. She left her eyes closed and listened to some of their conversation.

"Are you sure the potion was supposed to do that?" she heard Lock whisper.

"Well… no. Maybe I should've started over after I accidentally knocked those other genes in…," Shock whispered.

"Well no duh, dingbat," Azalia whispered.

"Her breathing pattern changed. Maybe she's waking up," Barrel whispered. Lailie gave up with spying since she had been found out and opened her eyes, staring up into Azalia, Lock, Barrel, and Shock's faces.

"What… Happened? Ow!" She asked, sitting up abruptly after a sharp pain went through her back.

"Um….. well… When Shock made that potion, she accidentally added some animal genes to it," Azalia said slowly.

"Whaa?"

"See for yourself.."

Lailie got up and walked over to the mirror on the other side of the room, staggering a little. She stood in front of the mirror, looked at herself, and screamed.

"Darn it Lailie! Shut-up!" Barrel said angrily, covering her mouth. "Boogie might hear you and come up here!" Lailie looked at Barrel and nodded slightly. He nodded back and released her. She looked back towards Lock, Shock and Azalia, then back at the mirror.

Large white bunny ears had sprouted from her head; she had silver-ish wings with gold tips coming out of her back, ripping part of her shirt; and a fluffy brown and white fox tail swishing behind her. Lailie looked at herself in horror and she grabbed one of her ears and started to tug on it.

"NO! THESE AREN'T REAL! I DON'T WANT THEM!" she cried, trying to pull them out of her head. Barrel pulled her hands and her ear apart and held Lailie's hands behind her back.

"Listen, Lailie, I know your upset, but don't take it out on yourself. It's not your fault," He said.

"Your right," Lailie sighed. "IT'S SHOCKS FAULT!"

"Lailie!" Barrel struggled to keep a firm grip on her wrists. Shock hid behind Lock, who sweat dropped.

"Guys, we don't have much time!" Azalia said.

"Right, c'mon," Lock said, turning to the door.

**_At Dawn…….._**

The screaming doorbell rang.

"Zzz.. huh?" Jack opened his eyes sleepily at the sound of his doorbell. He sat up, yawned, stretched, and headed down the stairs to the door. The doorbell rang again. He opened the door, scratching his head sleepily.

"Lailie!" He was suddenly awake and full of energy as he stared into his daughter's sad face. "I'm so glad your ok!" He bent down and engulfed her in a hug.

"Are you really?" She asked sadly, hugging him back.

"Of course I am!"

"Then why didn't you come for me?" Jack looked at Lailie, who had turned her head to the side and looked sad.

"Oh, sweetie……"

"Why didn't you if you care so much!"

"We-"

"You don't really care! You just say you do!"

"Lailie-"

"NO! I HATE YOU! I HATE EVERYONE!" Lailie turned and ran down the street, tears streaming from her eyes.

"LAILIE!" Jack tore after his daughter. He stopped running once he reached Town Square. He looked around for Lailie. He heard a sobbing and spun around. He watched Lailie walk across the square about 12 kilometers away from him and noticed her ears, wings, and tail for the first time. He tilted his head to the side and pondered for a minute, then as quickly as a fox was right behind her. Lailie hadn't noticed him behind her, because he had been absolutely silent. He took a deep, silent breathe before he started to sing. **_(A.N.: I don't own this song, Phil Collins does! Although I did screw with part of the last verse to fit better. :P)_**

"_Find yourself in the gutter in a lonely part of town  
Where death waits in the darkness with a weapon to cut some stranger down  
Sleeping with an empty bottle, he's a sad and an empty hearted man._  
_All he needs is a job, and a little respect, so he can get out while he can._

_We always need to hear both sides of the story_."

Lailie spun around at the sound of her father's voice and stared at him. His hand was outstretched, as if he was saying to sing along with him. She swallowed and opened her mouth and started singing also.

"_A neighborhood peace is shattered it's the middle of the night  
Young faces hide in the shadows, while they watch their mother and father fight  
He says she's been unfaithful, she says her love for him has gone  
And the brother shrugs to his sister and says 'looks like it's just us from  
Now on'_

We always need to hear both sides of the story."

Jack smiled and bent down to his daughter and wiped away some tears as he sung another verse.

"_And the lights are all on, the world is watching now  
People looking for truth, we must not fail them now  
Be sure, before we close our eyes  
Don't walk away from here  
'til you hear both sides_

Here we are all gathered in what seems to be the centre of the storm  
Neighbors once friendly now stand each side of the line that has been drawn  
They've been fighting here for years, but now there's killing on the streets  
While small coffins are lined up sadly, now united in defeat

We always need to hear both sides of the story…"

Lailie smiled slightly and put her hand on Jack's.

"_And the lights are all on, the world is watching now  
People looking for truth, we must not fail them now  
Be sure, before we close our eyes  
Don't walk away from here  
'til you see both sides_

A Monster turns the corner, finds himself within a different world  
Human kid grabs his shoulder, throws him up against the wall  
He says 'would you respect me if I didn't have this gun  
'cos without it, I don't get it, and that's why I carry one'

We always need to hear both sides of the story…"

Jack smiled and hugged his daughter, who hugged back. Lailie pulled back and looked at Jack, a few tears still in her eyes.

"I'm sorry dad. It's just that that place was making me really depressed and since mom and you didn't come get I kept thinking you guys hated me or something…," She said, wiping away a tear.

"It's not your fault, sweetie. We would have come and gotten you sooner, but your mother was injured and I had to be there for her until Dr. Finklestein could stitch her up," Jack said, a forgiving expression on his face.

"My my my, what a nice family reunion! Too bad it has to be so short!" Jack and Lailie looked to the side of them and saw Oogie Boogie standing there, looking rather angry.

"Oogie!" Jack said, getting up and standing in front of Lailie.

"Oo! Good, you remember me!" Boogie said mockingly. "If you wouldn't mind, I'd like to be taking my hostage back please."

"HOLD IT!" Everyone's heads turned at the new voice.

**Yay! New Charrie! I would just like to say again, that I _DO NOT_ own that song. It is a song by Phil Collins, so don't think I made it up. Oh, and it might take me awhile to write part 9 because I'm in the middle of designing the new character. Stay Tuned! **


	9. The Keeper of the Shadows

**Trouble Lurks In Every Corner**

**Part 9: Keeper of the Realm of Shadows**

"No one move!" Everyone stared at the teen standing off to the side.

She had spiky, light purple bangs that outline her face, and four, long dark purple braids with two sky blue ribbons hanging off each. Two of her braids came down off her temple, the others off the tops of her head like braided pigtails. She was tall and thin; wearing a long coat-type brown top, tan pants that were way to big for her waist, and white shoes with purple strips. She had a very serious expression on and she had a large ray gun pointed at them.

"Excuse me! You think you can tell-" Boogie started, but was cut off.

"SILENCE OOGIE!" The girl yelled.

"Why should I?"

"I thought you liked your helpers, Oogie."

"Yeah, I do. But what do they have to do with this?"

"If you aren't silent, they go 'bye-bye'!" The teen held up a hollow glass orb with four figures lying in it. They looked like miniature versions of Lock, Shock, and Barrel at a closer look. Lailie wouldn't believe it was really them until Barrel rolled over slightly and Lock and Shock twitched.

"Lock! Hey! Let them go you-" She started, but was cut off my Jack's hand coving her mouth.

"Quiet Lailie! Don't you know who that is?" Jack hissed into her ear, uncovering her mouth afterwards.

"No, I don't care either. I just want her to let them go," Lailie whispered.

"That's Tempest. She guards the Realm of Shadows; makes sure no one escapes, and has the power to banish and set people free. She has some power over Halloween Town that even I don't have. Not many have ever seen her in person, and if they have most aren't alive to say so. Some even say she has a powerful third eye on her forehead that she only opens when she's furious," Jack whispered, then stood back up and gripped Lailie's shoulders protectively. Lailie looked back at the teen, who was eyeing her. After a few moments she turned her attention back to Boogie.

"If you want to keep your helpers, Oogie, leave these two alone," She said nodding to Jack and Lailie, lowering her ray gun a bit.

"Listen kid, I don't know who you are, but you don't have any power over me," Boogie said. "So give me back my helpers and I won't have to hurt you."

The teen laughed.

"I? Have no power of YOU? Look, pal, I have every RIGHT to control you! I think I've even stopped you from leaving the Realm of Shadows once or twice," The teen said, raising the gun again after putting the glass orb on her head. Lailie's arms and legs twitched, like they were telling her to go grab the orb off the girls head. But she resisted the erg and wouldn't take her eyes off it instead.

"You couldn't have stopped me from leaving the Realm of Shadows! The only person who actually lives there is……," Boogie stared at the teen in fright. The teen had her ray gun slung across her back, her arms crossed and her finger tapping on her arm, and her right eye eyebrow raised. Her head was tilted down slightly as she looked at Boogie.

"Is the guard, Tempest," she finished. "And by the way, that's me." She reached up and took the orb off her head, held it in her palm and started to squeeze it.

"You see Oogie, you can't tell me what to do around here," she hissed, cracks forming in the orb. "And guess what else? Since you kept back-talking me, the three Trick-or-Treaters here get to suffer for it. Once this ball cracks their little bodies will fall and fall and fall until they land on the cement and glass, where they will die instantly." She leaned in on Boogie, who backed up a bit.

"D-Don't hurt them! W-What did they ever do to you!" Lailie cried, breaking free from Jack's grasp and running to Tempest "Please! Don't hurt them!" Tempest stared at Lailie, who was clinging to her sleeve and crying. She realized what she had been through and how depressed she had been in the past 5 months and took pity on the girl, but kept a serious expression on. She had sworn to herself she would kill the trio if she had to, and she couldn't break that vow.

"I'm sorry, but you can't blame me for it! She said, pushing Lailie off her and back into Jack. Boogie stared at Tempest, an extreme look of worry in his eyes as the orb shattered in her grasp.

To Lailie, everything seemed in slow motion after that. All her memories of the trio flashed before her eyes as she watched them fall. She thought she screamed, but everything went dark and silent……

The next thing she knew, she was staring up at the faces of Jack, Sally, Tempest, her siblings and random townspeople. They were all whispering among each other as she sat up.

"Ow… what's going on?" She asked, feeling three things, each about the weight of a couple pens each, fall off her stomach.

"Ow! Tell us when you're going to sit up, Lailie!" She heard Shock's voice chime. She looked down to the cement and looked at the palm sized trio, who were all rubbing their heads.

"Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry, guys!" She said, picking Lock up in her hands.

"It's no problem… really…," he said, still rubbing the back oh his head. Lailie just giggled and placed him on her shoulder. She looked around at al the people.

"What? What's everyone staring at?" She asked. Everything went silent. She didn't get an answer, but she was engulfed in a hug by Sally.

"Lailie! We were so worried about you!" She said, kissing her daughter on the cheek. Lock made a sound of disgust, but Sally ignored it. Lailie said nothing, but her smile faded and she looked sadly towards the ground. She had a weird feeling that she wasn't being serious. Sally looked at her daughter.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Oh… it's nothing," Lailie responded. Lock coughed out something that sounded like "Stop Lying", but she just poked him in the side as if she were saying "Shut Up". Lailie's head turned when she heard Tempest talking to Jack.

"Listen Jack, you need to keep your daughter away from here! She's in too much danger!" Tempest said.

"I know I know, I tried to keep her away from the Holiday Forest so she wouldn't stumble into the Realm of Shadows, but she kept going to other holidays," Jack said.

"Jack, I mean Halloween Town! Since Oogie's back, who knows what danger she's in! If anyone finds out about that power, she could be dead in a second!"

"I know what you mean. Boogie kidnapped her and she's been stuck with him for the last 6 months! Every time we tried to get her out we were always chased by a pack of Shadow Wolves who want Madison, Kevin and Kyle!"

"You need to keep all your kids in your house from now on, ok?"

"Listen Tempest, you may be the keeper of the Realm of Shadows, but you can't tell me how to raise my children; besides, your only 16."

"I know, but I want to keep the Shadow Wolves in the Shadows and if your kids are running around town they'll leave."

"I see. Well, then I'll have to keep them in the House until we get rid of Boogie and find out how Lailie got that power…" Lailie couldn't listen anymore. _S-Stay… in the house! I can't believe it! I thought he wanted me to be happy! Visiting the graveyards and other holidays IS what makes me happy! And what were they saying about some kind of power?_

"I HATE YOU!" She screamed, and then took off towards her house. Lock clung to her sleeve for dear life and Lailie ran. Lailie didn't know why she was heading to her house until she was up in her room typing up a letter.

"Um.. Lailie? What are you doing?" Lock asked, sitting down next to her keyboard.

"I'm getting out of this stupid place," She responded.

"So.. You're writing a running away note?"

"I'm writing a 'do you love me' note."

"Ok……."

Silence………

"You done yet La-?"

"No."

Silence……

"There, done." She printed out the letter, folded it up and stuck it in an orange and black envelope. She put the words, "Do look inside, if you want to know, Why I am not here." Lock jumped onto Lailie's bed.

"Now what?" He asked.

"I'm packing my stuff and leaving," Lailie responded, grabbing her backpack out from under her bed. She packed very quietly because her sister and brothers were sleeping and she feared to wake them. She packed many bags of food, three water bottles, her old cloak, her diary, and her souvenirs from the holidays.

"Alright, all set." She twitched her wings and remembered that she had ripped her shirt when her wings grew in. "Wait. I need to change into my dress. This shirt is ripped."

Lock's eye twitched.

"Don't think you're staying in here, buddy. Go wait outside my door. I'll be out in a minute," Lailie said, pointing to the door. Lock hurried out and she shut the door. A few moments later Lailie came out in her old, patchy dress that just barely fit her anymore.

"Ok, let's go." They paused when they heard Jack's voice.

"Lailie! Are you home!"

**oo;; This part was…. Odd. Heh. I just had the erg to make Lock, Shock and Barrel little fairy-size ppl! hugs lock Cute!**


	10. Where am I going to go?

**Trouble Lurks In Every Corner**

**Part 10: Where am I going to go?**

Lailie looked around the corner of the stairs. She watched as Jack entered the house, followed by Sally. She rushed into her room as they turned to go upstairs.

"What am I going to do, Lock!" She asked quickly.

"Tell them the truth. I dunno," Lock responded, shrugging.

There was a knock on the door. Lailie's head turned.

"Lailie, are you in here?" Sally asked, opening the door and peering in. The room was empty, but the window was open and a black and purple envelope was on the bed. Sally walked all the way in, followed by Jack.

"What do you think this is, Jack?" she asked, sitting down and picking up the letter.

"I dunno… Let's open it," Jack said, taking the letter and opening it. He had a hard time reading it, as did Sally, because it was mostly written in symbols. It read:

_°·.·°×W®i±±ÊÑ wi±h Å pÊn,×°·.·°× ×°·.·°×§eålÊÐ wi±h Å ki§§,×°·.·°× ×°·.·°×If yoÚ lØvÊ mÊ,×°·.·°× ×°·.·°×PlÊå§Ê ÅÑswÊr thi§,×°·.·°× ×°·.·°×DØ yØÚ lØvÊ mÊ?×°·.·°× ×°·.·°×Ø® dØ yØu ÑØ±?×°·.·°× ×°·.·°×YØu ±Øld me ØncÊ but i fo®gØt.×°·.·°× ×°·.·°×SØ ±Êll mÊ Ñow, ×°·.·°× ×°·.·°×Ånd ±Êll mÊ ±®uÊ,×°·.·°× ×°·.·°×SØ i cån §åy I lØVÊ YØÚ TØØ×°·.·°× ×°·.·°×Øf åll the peØple i've êvêr me±,×°·.·°× ×°·.·°×You're the ØÑe i'll Ñêvêr fØ®gê±.×°·.·°× ×°·.·°×Ånd if i diê bêfØ®ê Ú dØ, ×°·.·°× ×°·.·°×I'll gØ tØ hêåvêÑ and wåi± for you×°·.·°× ×°·.·°×But if Ur ÑØ± ±hê®ê Øn juÐgmêÑ± dåy×°·.·°× ×°·.·°×i'll kno Ú wêÑ± ±hê othê® wÁy×°·.·°× ×°·.·°×I'll givê ±hê åÑgêl§ båck ±hêi® wiÑgs×°·.·°× ×°·.·°×Ånd ®isk thê lØss of êvê®y±hiÑg×°·.·°×_

"Jack… I don't get it," Sally said, looking up from the poem.

"I don't either… it's too hard to read," Jack said, squinting and holding the paper up to his face. Sally pushed him playfully and took the poem away.

"I MEAN I don't get the letter. Look at this, it's got "I Hate You" written all over it!" This time Jack pushed Sally, who laughed.

"Oh, I didn't notice!" He said sarcastically, taking the poem back. They giggled.

But where there is laughter, there is crying.

Lailie had hidden in her closet to make sure her parents read the note, plus she couldn't have made it out of her room on time. Her heart nearly skipped a beat at the tones her parents were using, her already troubled mind sinking even deeper into what was a possible depression. As she listened to her parents giggling on about it, she finally knew for sure that they didn't like her; that they never wanted her in the first place. She started to wonder sadly about what she was going to do. She didn't want parents who hated her. She wanted sweet parents who actually cared about their daughter, and didn't treat her like an old rag that needed to be disposed of.

She heard her parents leave and shut her door. They were still giggling a little, which hadn't made Lailie feel any better. She pushed open the closet door and walked out, tears streaming down her face.

"Lailie…. I'm sorry. I guess you were right….," Lock said, looking up at Lailie from her shoulder.

"I-It's not Y-Your fault Lock…..," She sniffed, looking at the window. "I-I thought I sh-shut this…" She closed the window and latched it, then wiped her eyes off on her sleeve. Lock looked at Lailie, then smiled slightly.

"Well… I still love you," he said, resting his head on the side of her cheek. Lailie blushed slightly and ran a finger through his hair.

Mace sat in the bushes in front of the Skellington Household, pondering what was up with the letter he was reading. He picked up the Black and Orange envelope it came in and looked at the front for the first time.

"What ... the….? Wait.. Maybe this is supposed to tell me where she is so I can find her…," he muttered to himself, looking back at the letter. He read through it again. "It looks like it was written for her par-"

"Hi Mace."

He looked up.

"Hi Kipcha."

Kipcha was a lean girl who was about 5'6". She had waist length black hair that was up in a high ponytail, and wore a dark red tank top that showed her stomach and semi- baggy pants with long chains trailing from her pockets and are tucked into combat boots. A Dark Blue crescent moon tattoo was placed on her right hip, but her pants covered most of it.

"Whatcha doin'?" she asked, leaning over to look at the letter.

"I'm trying to figure out this letter." Mace says, looking over at the she-wolf in human form with an annoyed sort of look. "And I'd prefer it you stopped trying to read over my shoulder." Kipcha grinned at him, showing off small fangs.

"Oh? Why? Is it a letter to that one girl you're obsessed with?" she asked teasingly, prodding his stomach with a finger.

"Shut up."

"Is it?"

"No. It's a letter from her."

"Lemme see it." Kipcha grabbed the letter from Mace's hands and started to read.

"Hey!" Mace jumped to his feet and growled, grabbing at the letter. Kipcha held out her hand and stopped Mace just beyond arms reach.

"You sure this was for you? It looks like it was for someone else," she stated, still reading. Mace growled and clawed at her, but failed to even touch her.

"Where'd you find this?" Kipcha looked over to Mace, who was panting from tiredness.

"On her bed. I just figured it was for me."

"You loser."

"HEY! I'M NOT A LOSER!"

"Well, if you weren't you'd notice this was for her parents. If you look close enough, right here, it says 'Your sad daughter'."

Mace gave a soft growl at his long time friend in the pack. "I haven't actually read all of it yet before you snatched it out of my hands." he retorted, managing to push her down onto the ground and grabbing the letter back. "Just great. What if her parents read my note?"

"You left her a note? OOO!" Kipcha stood up and batted her eyelashes mockingly at him.

"Shut up," he growled, pushing her back on the ground.

"Hey!" Kipcha curled her upper lip in a snarl and tripped him with a round house kick aimed at his legs. She stood up and rested her left foot on top of his chest.

"Be glad I've not told the rest of the pack about your infatuation with the Pumpkin Princess," the she-wolf said with a demonic grin.

"Yeah yeah……" Mace hissed, tapping his fingers on the ground impatiently. They're heads turned when they heard someone leave the house. Mace's eyes sparkled as he watched Lailie run down the pathway to the gate.

"Zat her?" Kipcha asked, blinking.

"Yep. Isn't she pretty?" Mace asked with a grin.

"Whatever…"

"Sh! She's talking!"

"Nn! Why won't this open!" Lailie said, trying to unlock the gate with her key. Mace's happy face disappeared when another voice chimed in.

"Well, maybe Jack and Sally changed the locks after you were kidnapped," Lock said, jumping onto the padlock and examining it.

"Maybe…," Lailie responded, looking at her key and sighing. Mace growled warningly, looking like he was about to explode.

"What's HE doing with her?" He fumed, staring at the little red figure on the padlock. Kipcha looked over at Mace's face and snickered softly.

"Moron," She said in a mockingly affectionate tone. "You poor poor love-sick fool." She shook her head and patted him on the shoulder. "Good luck. And do come home, hmm? Everyone's been wondering where you've been, since the last time you showed your face was over three days ago." At that the female faded into the ground with a few whisks of smoky black trailing after her. Mace growled and melted into the ground, slinking through the shadows back to the Realm of Shadows to think of an idea to get rid of Lock.

"Maybe you could climb over?" Lock suggested with a shrug.

"In a dress? No way José," Lailie said, crossing her arms. Lock sweat dropped and laughed uncomfortably at the expression on Lailie's face.

"Well, you could always pick the lock," he suggested.

"Good idea. I have a hair pin," Lailie said, pulling a bobby pin out of her hair and picking the lock. It fell off the chain with a loud clink and Lailie grabbed Lock and stuck him on her shoulder. She quickly exited the gate and hid behind a bush, watching her front door open. Jack walked down the pathway and looked at the padlock and chain lying at the base of the open gate. He picked them up and looked around curiously, doing a double take when he saw Lailie quickly fold her wings onto her back. He put on a very serious expression and walked over to the bush, pulling back the branches quickly to see who was there.

Nothing.

He examined the bush carefully, but didn't see anything so he put the lock and chain back on the gate and went back inside.

"Whew, that was close!" Lailie sighed, materializing behind the bush like someone was chipping away rock. Lock's eyes seemed to swirl from dizziness and he fell over off Lailie shoulder. She looked over.

"You ok?" she asked, picking him up and looking at him.

"What… was…. That?" he asked, shaking his head like he was shaking off water.

"I dunno… I just said to myself that I wanted to be invisible and I was…"

"That's odd…"

"Yeah. Well, no time to chat, we need to get going." She got out from behind the bush and started down the street.

"Um… where are we going?"

"I dunno….."

"Well, we need to find someplace."

"We could always go to the human world."

"Why?"

"I need to get a good laugh. Maybe we could scare a bunch of humans."

"Ya know, that's actually sound pretty fun!"

"Then to the human world it is!"

**w00t! There's the end of part 10! I would like to thank meh friendy, WolfDog21 (who owns Kipcha) for helping me out A LOT on this part. I would also like to thank UmbrellaSamurai for the inspiration for the next part with a little scary rhyme she put in her story. Part 11's dedicated to you guys! **


	11. Memory Chapter 1: Past Memories

**Trouble Lurks In Every Corner**

**Part 11: Past Memories**

Lailie and Lock passed through a coffin into the real world after a day of walking up and down stone staircases. Lailie breathed in a deep sigh of the musty air in the graveyard they were standing in.

"Finally! Well, time to go scare us some suckers," she said, chuckling evilly afterwards.

"Sometimes I think you take too much after your dad," Lock said, sweat dropping.

"Oh Hush. C'mon." The two walked form the graveyard, slinking in shadows so people can't see them. Not that there WERE many people out, for it was 10:30 and most people were at home. She slipped onto Snowy Ct. and headed for the first house she saw. She slithered up to the window and peered in. There were about five 8 years olds all huddled in a circle in their PJ's. They were each holding a burning candle that illuminated the dark room. Lailie figured they were talking about ghosts and monsters and chuckled.

"You sure this is a good idea, Lailie?" Lock whispered.

"No, but it's going to be fun," She hissed, darting over to the kitchen window and climbing in.

"Some people say that that if you light candles at 10:30 at night and tell ghost stories, the ghosts you talk about will haunt you," one said, looking at the others. There was a short pause.

"Well, is someone going to tell a story?" another asked.

"Hey, I heard this story about this ghost who when she was living, threw parties and would kill everyone that the end. They say she still haunts parties and tries to kill everyone as revenge because they cut off her head at her own party," another said. Lailie chuckled silently and sat down in a corner. She shut her eyes and tilted her head downwards.

"_Come with me… my little friends… come with me to my party…_" she whispered, just loud enough for the girls to hear. Everyone gasped and looked towards the corner.

"Who-Who's there?" one of the girls asked, holding up her candle. Lailie let out a high-pitched giggle. The hostess of the party got up slowly and flicked on the light. All the girls screamed when they saw Lailie sitting in the corner motionless. They stopped after about 2 seconds when they realized it was just a doll.

"Whew! That's just one of those life sized rag dolls," The first one said. The hostess walked over to Lailie and looked at her.

"But… I don't own her. I've never seem her before," she said, looking back at her friends. Lailie smirked evilly.

"_Please come with me, I beg of you, come with me to my fancy party. It'll be so secure, everything will be a blur, and you won't want to leave until you die…Now say goodbye,_" She whispered a bit louder. Her voice dripped with an eerie, high-pitched childishness that caused everyone to jump. Lailie lifted her head, revealing blood dripping from her hairline and stitches.

"_Follow me, to my special place. There will be lights and music and disco balls. Just take my hand and we will soar, away from here, and to the ball._" Lailie used the wall as support as she stood up, also taking hold of the hostess's throat, but not too hard. Everyone screamed.

"_Parties… Parties, oh how I love parties. The dancing, the singing, everything's so hearty…. But at my parties, yes at my parties, everything may seem so hearty, until YOUR hearty is torn from YOUR body…._" Lailie picked up the girl and held her close to her face, chuckling childishly, fangs growing from her top teeth. Lailie dropped the girl and let out a strange howl-like growl. Everyone screamed and ran for it, the hostess yelling for her parents as they went. Lailie was engulfed with a fit of laughter as the blood and fangs seemed to blow off her body like leaves in the wind. Lock jumped down from the shelf to the right of her, also laughing, but not as hard.

"Oh my god that was SO much fun!" Lailie exclaimed through laughs. Lock giggled.

"We better get out of here before the parents come down to see what's going on," Lock said, smiling.

"Good idea." Lailie wiped away a tear, grabbed Lock, opened the window and hopped out.

"How'd you do that?" Lock asked as they headed down the CT.

"Do what?" Lailie asked, looking at the little demon on her shoulder.

"Make yourself bleed like that, then have it all disappear."

"Oh, I dunno."

"Lemme guess, you thought to yourself that you wanted to be bleeding and you were?"

"Hey! It's not that simple ok!"

"Really?"

"Yes, Really."

Silence…….

**Lailie's POV**

"Uh, Lailie, where are we going?" Lock asked as we turned down a street that looked abandoned.

"This is strange… it used to be so alive….," I muttered to no one in particular.

"Lailie?"

"What happened here? It looks like everything's burnt….."

"Lailie!" I jumped.

"What Lock? Geeze, don't scream in my ear next time…"

"Sorry, you wouldn't answer. Where are we?"

"I used to live on this street when I was human, but it looks like something happened and everyone left…"

"What are you talking about? This street is perfectly fine…" We walked up to my old house. It was partly covered in vines, but even they seemed to be burnt. I started to rip the vines off the front door.

"Lailie, what are you doing? That's decoration," Lock said.

"You think burnt vines are decoration?" I said, tearing more of the vines off.

"Those aren't burnt vines…"

"You need to get you're eyes checked Lock. There!" I tore the last of the vines off the door and turned the rusting doorknob.

The door easily opened and I walked inside. The inside of the house was the exact opposite of the outside. It looked exactly like it had before I died and was sent to Halloween Town, although all the furniture and even the stairs were covered in white sheets.

"Was… someone killed in here? Those sheets are everywhere…," I asked out loud.

"Yeah, I wonder what happened…," Lock said. Suddenly an image flashed before my eyes.

**Flashback thing**

_A girl ran screaming through the kitchen, screaming for help, but no one was coming. She had mid-back length straight blonde hair; she was wearing glasses, a yellow tee and jean capris. She tripped over a toy in the middle of the living room and skidded to a halt right in front of a white couch. She sat up on one elbow slowly, holding her head. A dark figure came up to her and raised a knife. The girl gasped and backed up into the white couch, screaming for help. As before, no one came. The figure put a hand on her shoulder to keep her from running and thrust the knife down into her chest._

**Flashback thing ends**

Once the girl in my vision was impaled I felt a sharp pain go through my body like I was struck by lightning. I think I screamed, but I wasn't sure because everything went black and silent.

**Blah, weird part, huh? 3 I'm actually proud of the Flashback Vision thing. Yes, it is a flashback. Those who are reading Monsters In My Eyes know who the girl is, right? winkwink Little plot twist there, not how she died in MIME. Srry it's shorter than usual, but I'm having a bit of Writers block right now. I used up the rest of my brain with writing the vision thing. Anyway, I need to stop jabbering. Stay tuned for part 12.**


	12. Memory Chapter 2: Supressed Memories

**Trouble Lurks In Every Corner**

**Part 12: Suppressed Memories**

**Normal POV**

"You think she's alive?"

"The real question is, WHAT is she?"

"Look at all those stitches! She must have been really injured."

"Maybe she's one of those crazy people who live in mental homes."

"Shh! Look! Her eyes are opening!"

Lailie opened her eyes, staring into the faces of 4 teen girls, about her age.

The farthest one to her right seemed to be taller than the others, her soft violet eyes wide and her short brown hair falling over her shoulders. Freckles dotted her face and she wore a yellow PJ top.

The girl next to the Violet eyed one had bright pink and orange eyes. Her soft pink hair was down to her shoulder blades and at the moment was brushing against her delicate skin. She wore a long sleeve light purple PJ top.

The next girl was the shortest of them all. She had long blonde hair, which was streaked with an auburn color. Green eyes stood out the most on her face and she had a bit of acne. She wore a white with blue clouds PJ top.

The last girl had mid-back length brown hair. Her bright blue eyes hide behind glasses, as most of her thought and feeling did the same. She wore a light green PJ top.

They all had curious expressions on their faces and Lailie put a hand to her head.

"Ow…. My head…," she said quietly, getting up on one elbow, causing the girls to scream and back away from her. She looked at them, then remembered Lock.

"Lock! Where's Lock!" She said urgently, pointing to one of the girls.

"Lady, I don't know who you're talking about!" the girl said, waving her hands in front of her. Lailie groaned and got to her feet, but stumbled and face planted into the carpet. They screamed again. Lailie sighed and got up again, this time making sure she had her balance.

"Lock!" she called as she stumbled towards the stairs. "LLOOCCKK!"

"Um… is this…. Thing... Lock?" one of the girls asked, holding up a glass bottle with Lock in it. Lailie turned around and stared at Lock, who was banging on the walls of the bottle.

"Oh my god, let him out of there! He'll suffocate!" Lailie said, snatching the bottle from her and taking the cork off the top. Lock grabbed onto the neck on the bottle and gasped. Lailie started to talk to him and the girls sat on their knees behind them, extremely clueless to what was going on. The girl with violet eyes studied Lailie for a moment, then gasped, causing everyone, including Lailie and Lock, to turn their heads and look at her.

"I finally figured out who you remind me of! You remind me of my friend Eliza, who was killed almost two years ago!" the violet eyed girl said, pointing to Lailie. The other girls gasped and made remarks to each other. Lailie's eyes went wide as she stared at them. Could, could it really be them? It had to be!

"Wait, you're names don't happen to be Tanya, Kalika, Jenny, and Frankie, do they?" Lailie asked, pointing to one as she said a name.

"How, how do you know our names?" the pink-orange eyed girl, Lailie pointed to her when she said Kalika, asked. Lailie's eyes brightened and she hugged all of them.

"It's so nice to see you guys again! I missed you!" Lailie exclaimed, almost dropping the bottle Lock was in.

"Um… who are you?" the girl the glasses, Lailie called her Frankie, asked once Lailie let go of her.

"It's me! Eliza!" Lailie said.

"Eliza?" Lock asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Eliza?" The green eyed girl Lailie called Jenny asked right afterward.

"But you can't be Eliza. She's dead," Kalika said.

"No, I really am. Ask me anything personal about Eliza and I'll answer it correctly," Lailie said, sitting down in front of the group, crossing her arms.

"Ok… Um…. Who was your crush ever since you woke up from a coma when you were 7?" Frankie asked Lailie.

"Mace, I mean Nickie!" Lailie said cheerfully; sweat dropping when she said Mace. She looked at her friends, who had frightened expressions. "What?"

"W-W-Wolf!" Jenny sputtered. Lailie turned around slowly, then was tackled by an angry looking Shadow Wolf. She got the wind knock out of her and she had to take a couple of breathes before she looked up into Mace's face.

"You LIKED me!" he yelled. After the initial shock of being barreled over by a 190 pound wolf that turned into a slim boy of 140 pounds, Lailie glared up at him.

"Why do you care?" She shot back up at him, despite her blushing at him finding out.

"HHEELLOO! Earth to Lailie!" he screamed into her ear, causing Lailie to wince. "I'm Nick! 'Member?" The group of girls stared at Mace, sweat dropping. 'This is Nick? How could that be? He killed himself!' each of the girls thought.

"Get off me Mace!" Lailie said, drawing the girls back to reality.

"No, I don't think I will," Mace replied, a menacing grin coming across his face as he made his face almost touch Lailie's.

"Get off, you pervert!" Lailie exclaimed, head butting him and scrambling away once Mace let go. Lock lunged onto Maces head and started pulling on his hair.

"You do what Lailie says, Wolf Boy!" He said, wrapping his devil tail around Mace's ear and pulling it also.

"Dammit!" Mace yelled, snatching at the boy and stuffing him back into the bottle and corking it. He tossed the bottle and watched it roll under one of the many white sheets. Everyone stared after the bottle frozen. Mace turned around and stared at Lailie, a frightened expression on his face. He had realized something terrible happened in this home, and somehow he felt connected. Lailie looked back at Mace and gulped; she'd never seen Mace frightened since they came to Halloween Town.

"Lailie…. What.. Happened here?" Mace asked slowly, like he was afraid to here the answer.

"Just wait Mace. It'll come back to you," Lailie responded. Mace turned from her and started around the perimeter of the room, everyone staring after him.

Silence…….

**Mace's POV**  
I got to a couch and froze. An image of a blonde haired girl being stabbed flashed through my mind, but the screaming continued for a moment later. My head started aching terribly and my body felt weak. An image of a boy with spiky black hair flashed through my mind; He was yelling out the name Eli. The image switched to the blonde haired girl being stabbed again, this time with a short sword. The image switched to the boy yelling again, this time he was on his knees shouting, "Murderer!" The image flashed back to the girl, where it showed her bloody body pinned to the couch with the sword going right through her.

**Normal POV**

"No!" Mace yelled, pulling the sheet off the couch.

"Calm down Mace! It's just an illusion!" Lailie told him, grabbing the sides of his arms and trying to sound reassuring.

"It's still there..," Mace said, ignoring Lailie. Lailie looked down and noticed the large bloodstain on the side of the white couch, a short sword sticking into the middle of the stain. Mace bent down and slid the sword out of the couch.

"I'm going to find that dude, I'm going to find him, and KILL HIM!" he shouted starting for the door. The girls screeched and ran for the covered stairs.

"Pull yourself together Mace!" Lailie yelled, grabbing Mace around the waist to keep him from running. Mace spun around, forcing Lailie to tumble over the back of the couch, landing with a painful 'thunk' on the floor. Mace looked towards her, his angry expression softening when he noticed the tears in her eyes.

"I… was just trying to help…," Lailie said quietly, grabbing her detached arm from the ground and sniffing. Mace slowly walked towards her, the sword dangled at his side.

"I'm sorry… I don't know what happened. Something snapped," he said, putting the sword on the couch to help Lailie gather herself back up.

"What's going on?"

The two looked up at Frankie, who was quivering in front of them.

**Ok… yet another odd part. Sorry about the weird way this ended. Having a brain fart. o0;; stayed tuned..**


	13. Half Memory Chapter With No Name

**Trouble Lurks In Every Corner**

**Part 13: Explanations**

Mace and Lailie looked up at Frankie.

"What do you mean?" Lailie asked, taking a needle out from behind her ear and a spool of thread from a pocket in her dress.

"I mean, you claim to be Eliza, and you claim to be Nick, but their both dead.. although, you don't look human," Frankie said, waving her hand at Lailie at that last part, a look of disgust on her face as Lailie started sewing her leg back on with the help of Mace, who was blushing.

"Aaannndddd?" Lailie asked, tying a knot and breaking the thread.

"And, Well, I don't think it's possible for you guys to be Nick and Eliza. I mean, they died, so how could they be alive again?"

"Well, technically, we didn't-" Lailie was cut off mid-sentence by an image of a tall, slender man holding up a knife. He had raggedy black hair, pale white skin, and green eyes. He was wearing a black and white stripped shirt and black and white striped pants. She shook her head free of the image, then looked at Mace, who had been tapping her shoulder.

"You ok?" he asked, handing her her hand.

"Oh, yeah. But I just had a vision of a man who reminded me of Jack….," Lailie said, starting to sew it back on. Frankie sweat dropped.

"Um… can someone please answer my question?" She asked. Lailie broke the thread, moved her wrist around and looked up at Frankie.

"I didn't- ow!" Lailie started, but once again was interrupted by an image in her mind, it making her head throb. It was of the man again, but lightning flashed and the man was instantly turned into Jack, who sent the knife down off Lailie field of vision. She gasped.

"It was HIM!" She yelled, scrambling quickly to her feet, causing her to teeter precariously. She needed to move her leg around before she could walk very well.  
"Who?" Mace and Frankie asked at the same time, Mace keeping Lailie from falling over.

"Jack! He's the one who murdered me when I was human! I knew he hated me!" Lailie said, starting for the door, but stumbled and started falling.

"LOOK OUT!" Mace dashed in front of Lailie and caught her. Lailie lifted her head to look at Mace. Mace blushed and stood her up straight, then cleared his throat. Lailie smiled.

"Thanks, Mace…..,"She said.

"Oh.. No problem…," Mace replied. The girls on the stairs giggled, causing Mace and Lailie's head to turn their direction. They noticed the 'oo, they liikkee each other' expressions on their faces.

"I DO NOT LIKE HIM!" Lailie yelled the same time Mace yelled, "I DO NOT LIKE HER!" They pointed to each other, blushing slightly.

"Hee, those two are DEFINITELY Eliza and Nick!" Kalika said, giggling. "They always helped each other out and wouldn't admit they liked each other. Besides, I have this weird feeling it's them." Lailie smiled at her old friends. She really had missed them… maybe she could get them to Halloween Town somehow?

"Hay! You guys wanna come see where I live now?" Lailie asked, snapping her fingers. The girls stared at her. There was silence until Mace started talking.

"How would they get there? I mean, they're humans, we aren't," Mace said, appearing in front of the girls in whisks of black smoke.

"That's ok! We could dress them up!" Lailie said, smiling and tilting her head to one side.

"Yeah! Lets do it!" Tanya said, jumping up and thrusting her hand into the air.  
Lailie pulled the sheet off the stairs and walked up to her old room, the others following. She walked in her room and opened the closet; everything was still there. She started foraging through the clothes, then pulled out her witch dress. She stared at it and tossed it aside; it was too small for any of them to wear now. She walked over to her dress-up trunk on the other side of the room and tried to open the lid. It didn't budge. She tried to open it again. Same result. Then she remembered she had always kept the trunk locked.

"Um…… Hey, Jenny? You don't still happen to have the key to my trunk, do you?" She asked, sweat dropping. Jenny smiled and took off a necklace that was hidden by her PJ top. It was a shiny black key on a gold chain.

"As a matter of fact, I do," she said, handing the necklace to Lailie. Lailie thanked her, then opened the trunk.

Everything was extremely dusty, but Lailie started rummaging through the old costumes anyway. She sneezed a few times, but ended up finding some good costumes that fit them and looked Halloween Town-ish. She had the girls put them on and giggled at the sight of her friends all dressed up just to go see Halloween Town.

Tanya was dressed as a witch. She had on a short dark purple dress, knee-high black boots and a witch hat. Her violet eyes matched her outfit perfectly!

Kalika was a corpse child. Her skin was painted pale-white and her hair messy and bunched together. Some face paints added the illusion of her being dead. Her Pink eyes made her look Albino. (No offense)

Jenny was a Doll, like Lailie. She wore a tattered dress and Lailie drew stitches on her with eye liner. Her Green eyes stood out against the black dress.

And Frankie was a Demon. She wore red flare pants with little white fuzzies at the bottom and a red long sleeve top with white fuzzies around the wrists. She had a pair of horns attached to her head with clear string and a tail was pinned to her pants. She looked a bit awkward with her glasses.

"Everyone ready yet…?" Mace asked impatiently from his seat on top of the trunk.

"Yep! All set!" Lailie said cheerfully, putting away a bunch of make-up.

"Good, let's go."

Lailie led the group out of the house and down the street. The sun had started coming up, which means they would have to hurry; the crypt to Halloween town seals itself once the sun is fully up in the sky. They hurried down the streets towards the Graveyard, the sun becoming higher and higher in the sky. Lailie ushered the group into the crypt and just as she was about to close it a voice came out of nowhere.

"Think you can forget me?" Lock's voice said. Lailie gasped and looked around, seeing Lock standing in front of the crypt, his normal size again.

"Lock! Oh my god I'm sorry! I forgot all about you!" Lailie said, feeling really bad she forgot he even existed. Lock just shrugged and walked into the crypt. Lailie shut the door and it sealed with a squelch.

Everything went black.

Mace let out a loud growl, then Kalika screamed.

"What the hell is going on!" Lock yelled. A light ball formed in Lailie's hand and she stepped forward to lighten the cavern. Mace was in his Wolf form and he had tackled Kalika, who was cowering and screaming.

"MACE! GET OFF HER!" Lailie yelled, stomping her foot. Mace looked at her, then turned into a thin black line and slithered off Kalika. He turned back into a human and sat on the floor.

"What was that about, Wolf-boy?" Lock asked, making a weird noise and crossing his arms. The humanized shadow wolf just growled again and twitched his elf-like ears.

"Seriously Mace, why did you attack her?" Lailie asked kindly.

"She stepped on my tail," Mace said, making a noise that sounded like, 'Humph' Everyone fell over anime style.

They had been walking for about 2 hours when they all collapsed on the stone staircase.

"How… Much longer?" Tanya asked, rubbing her sore eyes.

"It takes a day to get to Halloween Town, and it's only been a few hours," Mace said, leaning against the wall. "Besides, this isn't such a bad walk."

"Yeah, for a Shadow Wolf. Not all of us are used to all day

walks," Lailie said, crossing her arms.

"Well, we can't rest for to long or it'll take longer. C'mon, let's keep moving," Lock said, helping the girls up.

They walked up and down more staircases until they got to a hallway of doors. The girls looked around, very confused.

"What's with all the doors?" Frankie asked.

"Each one leads to a different place in Halloween Town," Lailie said. "If you go through the wrong door, you could end up lost in the wrong part of town or the Realm of Shadows."

"Which door do we need to go through?" Jenny asked.

"Well, depends on what part of town."

"Then you choose. You live there."

"Ok. Not Town Square, Jack might be there."

"Not Realm of Shadows," Mace put in. "Tempest might be mad I'm not there and she's scary when she's angry."

"How about your house?" Kalika suggested. Lailie seemed to twitch at that sentence.

"My… House? No way," she said, waving her hands in front of her.

"Aww, why not?" Frankie asked.

"Sally might be home and if she seems me she'll go nuts and call down my brothers and sister and Jack and Zero…"

"Um…. Ok?"

"It's just not a good idea, ok?"

"Well, then lets go through this one!" Tanya said cheerfully, opening a door. Lailie gasped and put her hands out.

"NO! NOT THAT ONE!" she yelled, but they were sucked into a doorway anyway.

**oo; yeah…. Wonder where the door leads, hmm? Lets take a vote on where the door should lead to. Here are the choices:**

**  
1. Realm of Shadows  
2. Boogie's Hideout  
3. …. Uh…. Just tell me where u want it to lead if it isn't 1 or 2. **

Eh, stay tuned.


	14. Territorial Battle

**Trouble Lurks In Every Corner  
Part 14: Territorial Battle  
**

(A/N: I swear, u guys don't listen to me. Well…. The majority of people (2) voted for the Realm of Shadows, so here ya go. The Realm of Shadows)

The girls screamed as they fell through complete darkness. Lock and Mace, on the other hand, weren't making a sound, just falling with their arms crossed. The group landed on a soft platform that felt like a water bed. Mace slid down from the platform.

"Just great. Now we're in the Realm of Shadows and Tempest is going to kill me!" he complained, turning into a wolf and running down the long corridor in front of them.

"Don't touch anything!" He warned, looking over his shoulder at the group before turning a corner.

"Mace, wait!" Lailie called, outstretching her hand. She stared after him for a minute, then looked around.

"Nice place ain't it?" Lock muttered dully, rolling his eyes at the scenery. The sky above them was shifting hues of purple and black, and a disc of blood red that was the light source. The few trees they could see currently had scratch marks on them, and the limbs were gnarled, the bark nearly a charcoal black.

"Great, now how are we going to get out of here?" Tanya asked, jumping off the platform.

"I vote that Eliza helps us out! All in favor say 'I'!" Jenny said, thrusting her hand into the air.

"I!" chimed a chorus of girls. Lailie let out a noise.

"**_EXCUSE ME!_** I didn't get us in here! How should I know how to get out!" she exclaimed.

"Because you live here," Kalika pointed out.

"I don't live here! I live in Town, not in the shadows. Mace lives here!" She said, pointing to the dizzying sky above them.

"Alright you guys, Zip It! I'll find the way out of here!" Lock interjected, pushing between the girls and walking ahead. The girls looked at each other, then followed him.

"Look, there's that platform! We're walking in circles, Lock!" Lailie said after 1 hour of walking in a complete circle.

"Well, I'm sorry, but I don't know this place either," Lock said. They started walking again, taking a different direction than before. This path lead them to a large cave whose entrance was blocked by flickering black flames.

"Great, another dead end!" Tanya complained.

"Well, we wouldn't be here if SOMEONE hadn't opened that door!" Lailie said to Tanya.

"I'm sorry, but I don't know where everything leads, ok!" Tanya said, putting her hands on her hips. The two started arguing loudly, causing everyone else to sweat drop and feel awkward. The two stopped fighting when a growl came from the cave. Everyone's heads turned to the glowing red eyes that had appeared behind the black flames.

"What are you HUMANS doing here in the Shadow Realm?" The owner of the growl said lowly. A snarl followed after the question, and the red eyes narrowed slightly at the group. Lailie jumped and took a step back, putting her hands out in front of her.

"H-humans? There aren't any humans here!" She said, trying to cover up her friends. There was a sniffing sound.

"Yes there is, the air reeks of their smell. Why are they here?" the voice replied, sounding a bit angry.

"There aren't any humans here! Were all… um…," Kalika started.

"Halloweenians?" Jenny finished. There was a soft chuckle.

"Stop harassing them," a feminine voice scolded.

"How the hell did you manage to get onto the council? You're too soft, in more ways than one." the male voice from before retorted. A slap rang out followed by a curse.

"Stop being a perv. And get Mace from wherever he is before I beat your ass in." A small section of the flames subsided and out stepped an annoyed she-wolf. The group stared at the teenager, who let out a small 'humph'. She looked over at them.

"Hey, I know you," she said, looking at Lailie. "You're that girl Mace was talking about the other night." Lailie just blinked.

"Wha?" was all she could say. The teen sniffed, then put her hands behind her head

"..Valor was right… it does smell like Humans out here…." The she-wolf turned from the group and walked off like she hadn't even noticed they were there. The teenager came to a sudden stop, making the chains on her pants clink against each other; then looked over her shoulder at the group.

"You better get out of here when Mace gets here. The rebels in the pack won't hold back from chasing you guys." a smirk appeared on her lips. "Don't worry about the guy that talked to you, I'll make sure that he doesn't open his mouth and start shooting off that there were humans here." She then walked back into the cave without another word.

The group stared blankly after her.

"Ok, what the fuck was that?" Jenny asked, lifting a finger lazily.

"I have no idea…. But we should have asked her the way out..," Frankie said.

"Yeah," Kalika said.

"Who are you and what are you doing in here?" a cold female voice behind them said.

Everyone jumped and turned around so see Tempest standing in front of them, with a tranquilizer gun in one hand while the other was holding onto a Shadow Wolf by the scruff of the neck. There seemed to be a dart sticking out of its rump...

"Tempest! Hi.. uh…," Lock started, putting a hand behind his head.

"Don't 'Hi' me Lock, just be glad you aren't dead," Tempest said coldly, sticking the gun into the sling across her back and lifting the wolf up onto her shoulders.

"Right, My lips are sealed," he said, pretending to zip his lips shut. Tempest just looked at him, then back at the girls.

"What are you girls doing here?" she asked.

"We're actually trying to leave, but we can't find the way out," Tanya explained, shrugging.

"We just keep going in circles," Kalika said. Tempest scanned the group with her eyes while they were talking. When she got to Lailie she muttered to herself.

"I would expect more from the Pumpkin Princess. I didn't think you would be stupid enough to lead a group of humans into the Realm of Shadows. But since you have, you're all under MY control now," She said, narrowing her eyes at them.

"WHAT!" Lock blurted.

"SILENCE DAMMIT!" Tempest yelled, throwing her hand at Lock. A metal sheet appeared over his mouth. It looked pretty painful too since there were bolts in the metal. Lock clawed painfully at the metal, but couldn't get it off.

"YOUR control!" Mace demanded irritably, seeming to snap out of the drug stupor she had put him in. He was in his humanoid form now, and was struggling wildly in her magical hold. "This is MY territory, you have to remember that as long as your here, you're power is divided with the Alpha of the pack!"

"Not anymore it isn't," Tempest said. Mace and the others blinked.

"What?" Mace asked.

"You see, while you were away, Jack came down here and offered me full control of the Realm of Shadows if I return Lailie home by tomorrow Evening. I agreed, so he gave me the full deed to this wolf infested dump. So the only way you Shadow Wolves have any power over this place is if Lailie isn't home tomorrow." Lock growled and tried to say something but everything he said was muffled and we always winced. Mace let out a loud roar of fury, his body turning into that of a large wolf in a single wave. And since he was situated on Tempest's shoulder, instinct took over and he tried to clamp his jaws onto her neck. Tempest hurled Mace into a tree, then grabbed her gun out of the sling on her back. She pointed it at the wolf, who was regaining his composure and standing back up.

"Look Mace, You may the Alpha, but you aren't the Pumpkin King. Jack is, and he offered me full control of this place, and there isn't anything you can do about it," Tempest said, aiming the gun at him. Mace roared and lunged for the teen, who shot a laser from the gun at him. Lailie gasped and threw her hand in Mace's direction, a glowing white orb materializing around him. The laser bounced off the bubble and back towards Tempest. She ducked, then stood back up and looked at the hole through the tree behind her. She looked back at Mace, who was floating in the bubble, a look of confusion on his face. Tempest growled and clenched her teeth, then charged towards the bubble. Her gun turned into two sharp swords as she ran. She crossed the swords in front of her, then slashed at the bubble, causing a tear to form, allowing her to slash at Mace. The sword caught onto his fore-leg and opened up a deep gash which allowed his crimson blood to flow out. Mace let out a short howl, and almost instantly was answered by three other howls.

Kipcha came charging out of the cave, along with two other shadow wolves. One was in its human form, claws lengthening on his fingers as his steel toed shoes slapped against the hard ground. The other was an older wolf, one of the council members to be in fact. Lailie screamed in distress and fear and grabbed her head. It felt like someone was pounding it like a drum. Voices were lurking in the back of her mind, telling her to run away and leave her friend to be attacked and possibly killed, while other thoughts told her to intervene, and maybe get killed herself. She shook her head, then ran into the battlefield, barely dodging claws and laser beams.

"Mace!" She stumbled over to the wounded wolf and knelt down next to him. "Mace, are you ok!"

Lock tried to yell after her, but succeeded in have a surge of pain go through his body. Tanya yelled and started after her, but was held back with the other girls.

"No Tanya! You can't go in there!" Jenny said, holding onto her arm.

"I gotta help Eliza! I can't let her die again!" Tanya yelled, struggling to get free.

"We know! We want to help her too, but we can't do anything about it, it's not our battle!" Frankie exclaimed, tightening her grip around Tanya's other arm. Tanya looked at the ground, her eyes showing extreme sadness.

Mace turned back into his human form, gasping slightly in pain. He turned his head to look at Lailie, but right now all his mind was saying was that he had to protect the rest of his pack and win back his territory. So, he didn't answer and instead just pushed her aside, his shoulders stuff as he stood back up and flicked out a knife. Lailie looked at him, her eyes losing their usual sparkle. She watched Mace join in fighting Tempest, her eyes starting to water. She knew something like this was going to happen, and now she knew only one way to solve it. If she wasn't returned by tomorrow evening to her house… Tempest would lose the full deed and Mace and his pack would have part control over the Realm of Shadows again…….. She had thought about just running away, but she knew that would cease the fighting.

She got to her feet and, dodging many pairs of claws, got over to Mace and grabbed one of his knives out of his belt.

"I'll do it!" she yelled over the shouting of the fighters, raising the knife over her head.

Everything came to a screeching halt.

"Lailie…?" Mace said, a look of horror on his face as he looked at her, knowing at any moment she could kill herself.

**Yeah….. Thanks a bunch to Wolfdog13 (Maggie) for helping me out A LOT on this part. I really appreciate it. :3 Weell, Stay tuned for part 15.**


	15. A Replacement

**Trouble Lurks In Every Corner**

**Part 15: A Replacement**

"I swear I'll do it. I'll have no regrets," Lailie said shakily. Her throat was dry and her eyes were watering.

"Lailie…. No, don't…," Mace pleaded. Lailie didn't seem to have noticed he had spoken.

"I've waited too long…. If I'd have known all of this was bound to happen, I wouldn't have held on when I was 6. I would have just stopped fighting and let that pack of Shadow Wolves kill me. If I had let that happen, none of **_this_** would have happened!" She exclaimed, shutting her eyes tight, a tear running down her cheek. Lock let out a moan of pain and sadness that was just loud enough for everyone to hear through the metal sheet covering his mouth. Tempest snapped her fingers lazily and the sheet disappeared, leaving no trace it was ever there.

"No Lailie! Don't just give up on everything so easily!" Lock said once the metal was gone. "Tanya, Kalika, Jenny, Frankie, Jack, Sally, they all care!"

"No… No, they don't. Jack and Sally never wanted me, the girls forgot about me. I don't have anything to live for anymore, Lock….," She said, shaking her head sadly.

"Good…. That means you won't care if you die alone and cold, right?" a female voice hissed in the trees above them. They looked around but saw nothing.

"Sh-Shock?" Lailie asked, stumbling over her words.

Silence……….

Lailie lowered the knife to her side. She was nervous, and it was clear everyone else was also. After a few moments there was a loud bang and two metal sheets came from the trees. The first sheet bolted itself around Lailie, who screamed in pain and terror. The knife flew from her hand and almost stabbed Kipcha's foot. The other sheet muffled Lailie's scream by bolting itself over her mouth. The force of the metal pushed Lailie backwards, causing her to fly back, but lifting her slightly in the process. She skidded a ways before stopping and cringing in pain.

"Lailie!" Mace and Lock yelled, rushing towards her. Lailie forced herself into a sitting position and looked up at Tempest, ignoring the two boys who were asking her if she was ok and were trying to get the metal off. She growled to herself, but her thoughts were interrupted when Mace and Lock gasped. She turned and looked at them.

"Mmph?" she asked, wincing slightly.

"Your wings, your ears and your tail… they're... Disintegrating….," the two said. The two looked at each other, disgusted that they said the same thing at the same time. Tempest rolled her eyes at the two, then turned to the trees.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?" she called, picking her gun up from it resting place at her side.

No answer.

"I SAID who are you!" she called again. "SHOW YOUR SELF!" The sound of rushing wind came by, but there wasn't even a breath of wind. Lailie's pupils got small and she fell over unconscious. No one noticed this however; they were all looking around for the source of the noise.

"Kekekeke, thanks for the doll, losers!" the female voice said, this time having a source. Everyone looked up into the trees, seeing a 12 year old sitting on one of the branches, Lailie over her shoulder.

She was wearing a baggy black shirt with a skull on it and baggy black pants with net at the bottom on the legs. She had a couple of chains hanging from her pocket, disconnected net sleeves that acted as fingerless gloves, and 2 inch high black combat boots. Her dirty blonde hair was short and sticking up on end and her orange-red eyes were covered in black eyeliner and black eye shadow. She looked more like a boy than a girl, but her voice told everyone she was a girl.

"Hey! Give her back!" everyone yelled at the same time. They all exchanged looks of disgust.

"No thanks, I have a job to do," the girl said, crossing her legs. "And I actually plan to finish it, unlike SOME people." She glared at Lock.

"What?" Lock asked, getting confused. She just rolled her eyes.

"Who are you and what do you want with Lailie?" Mace asked, stepping forward, holding up his knives.

"Name's Wednesday. I'm Oogie Boogie's new helper," the girl said proudly. Lock's jaw seemed to drop to the floor.

"What!" he asked again, shocked.

"Oogie doesn't seem to trust you anymore, Lock, so he let you go and hired me instead, since I will actually obey his orders. Anyway, gotta run before she wakes up!" Wednesday stood up and jumped from the branch, but never fell back towards the ground. Mace had started for the tree and was halfway there when Wednesday jumped off. He yelled out in rage and threw his knife into the tree. His throat felt dry like he was about to cry. He wiped his eyes with his arm, then turned into a wolf and ran; follow by Kipcha and the other court member who were worried about him. Tanya fainted and Lock sulked, leaving Tempest and the other girls.

"Great, just great. Now I'm stuck with a bunch of Humans and Devil kid!" Tempest complained, not seeming to care the Lailie was just kidnapped in front of their faces.

"Hey, what's that?" Frankie asked, walking over to the tree and picking up a piece of paper. "It looks like some riddles." Lock looked up, his face brightening a bit. He got up and took the paper.

"Lemme see that. It might be a clue," he said, reading over the paper.

_Combine the two_

_To find you-know-who:_

_What has two heads,_

_But one body,_

_The more it stands still_

_The faster it runs?_

_What can run, but cannot walk,_

_Has a mouth, but cannot talk,_

_Has a head, but never thinks,_

_Has a bed, but never sleeps?_

_Well, we're waiting._

There was silence for a few minutes.

"Uh…," Frankie started, racking her brain for words.

"Well, since it written in riddle it's obviously from Boogie, telling us where to find Lailie. We should get this to Jack and Sally," Lock said, folding the paper and sticking it in his pocket.

Tempest led the group to the nearest exit, which was a swirling black and purple portal in one of the gnarled black trees. The group ended up in the middle of Town Square. The pumpkin sun was going down and the sky was bright orange and red. The group thanked Tempest and started down the road, Lock carrying the still unconscious Tanya. When the sun was just about out of the sky they arrived at Jack and Sally's. They unlocked the gate and walked up to the door.

Sssccchhhrrreeeeeeccchhh!

Madison, Kevin and Kyle all came bounding out of different locations in the house to get to the door and answer it before one another. Madison reached for the doorknob proudly but was pushed to the side by Kevin, who was then pushed into Madison by Kyle. Madison tackled her younger brothers and wrestled them to the floor. Sally came from the kitchen, holding a ladle in one hand and a jar of pepper in the other. She just sighed at her children and opened the door.

"May I help you?" she asked, the kids rolling by in a snarling fit behind her.

"Hello Mrs. Skellington," Lock said, trying to get the letter out of his pocket while still holding Tanya up. Sally's expression turned slightly annoyed.

"What do you want Lock? What can you possible do to make my family's life more miserable?" Sally asked, crossing her arms. "And who are all of the rest of you?"

"Hi! We're Eliza's friends from the human world!" Kalika said cheerfully. The group glared at her, but she didn't know what she did wrong. Sally raised an eyebrow.

"What they mean is, oof, they're Lailie's friends from when she was sent to the real world before, oof, she could return here," Lock explained, still fumbling with his hands and pockets.

"Uh huh," Sally said blandly.

"Ugh, can someone PLEASE hold Tanya for a minute!" Lock complained, shoving her into the other girls' arms. They glared at him slightly as he took out the letter.

"Here. Read it, give it to Jack, figure it out," he said, handing the paper to Sally, who took it and stuffed it in her apron. The kids rolled by again, the twins screaming and Madison yelling as they tumbled across the floor. Sally turned her head.

"Jack! Will you PLEASE do something useful and settle those kids down!" she yelled.

"**_Excuse_** me! The soup is overflowing!" Jack's voice came from the kitchen.

"Oh geeze!" Sally turned to the group and talked hurriedly. "I'm sorry but I can't stay and chat at the moment, maybe some other time." The door slammed shut, cutting out most of the noise coming from the house. The group stared blankly at the black door.

Lailie woke up a few hours later. At first her vision was hazy, but as it cleared she realized where she was, and she was not comfortable with it at all. She was staring up into the red face of Oogie. She knew at first she was in the arms of someone else because while she was waking up she felt her body be passed to the Boogie Man. She started kicking and 'screaming', but she soon realized the metal had not been removed from her body.

"Welcome back, Rag-Gal," Boogie said, laughing manically afterward.

**Dum Dum Dum. I wanna make this a comic, but I can't draw very well yet…… I mean, when I drew Boogie, my friends thought it was Patrick from Spongebob SquarePants without pants on.. o0;; So they drew pants on him. XD**


	16. Ye ol' Chappy With No Name o0

**Trouble Lurks In Every Corner**

**Part 16: **

Lailie stared up at the Boogie Man, squirming uncontrollably.

"Save your energy, Rag-Gal, you're gunna need it when those friends of yours figure out that riddle Wednesday left them," Oogie said, grabbing a rope with a large magnet attached to it. "In the meantime, you can't just 'hang out' here…" He stuck the magnet to the metal sheet around Lailie's middle. He cranked a lever that lifted her above the ground, then walked off to a door on the right, laughing, followed by Wednesday. Lailie stared after them, her mind completely filled with unhappy thoughts.

Sally walked back into the kitchen, holding Madison in one arm and Kevin in the other.

"Who was that?" Jack asked, turning off the stove and cleaning it off with a rag.

"Lock and a bunch of Humans. They gave me a piece of paper and told us to figure out what it meant," she said, setting her children down, putting the ladle and the pepper jar down as well.

"Oh. Have you read it?" Jack asked, walking over to the sink and rinsing the rag off.

"No."

"Well, we should do that then."

"AFTER dinner."

"Fine."

_**AFTER dinner……..**_

Jack and Sally put the other kids to bed and sat down at the kitchen table. Sally took the paper out of her pocket, unfolded it and set it on the table.

Silence……

"Well, are you going to read it?" Sally asked, poking the paper towards Jack.

"I thought you were going to read it," Jack said, poking it back in Sally's direction.

"No thanks, you can read it."

"Fine then, I will." Jack picked up the paper and read the poems out loud. He looked up from the paper to Sally, who blinked, then started thinking.

"Well, it sounds like something Boogie would write. I mean, after all, it's written in Riddles," she said, shrugging. Jack thought for a moment.

"The second riddle's answer is 'River'. So, we should name off Rivers until we find one that would make sense," He said. They started racking their brains, searching for the names of the Rivers inside and outside the gates of Halloween Town. They spent a few hours doing this, and were interrupted when the doorbell rang. They jumped and headed for the door before it rang again, incase it woke the kids.

"Hello?" Jack asked, opening the door.

"Jack! You'll never guess what I just saw!" one of the Vampire's exclaimed, seeming to panic slightly.

"Shh! You might wake Madison and the twins!" Sally said urgently, in a hushed tone. "Here, let's step outside." The two went out to the porch and shut the door.

"Ok, what did you see?" Jack asked.

"I saw- I saw, this girl," the Vampire said, seeming to be paranoid that someone was watching.

"Aaanndd?"

"She was, running and carrying a large…. Potato sack..."

"So?"

"So! She had evil red-orange eyes and a smile like the devils! It was awful Jack! And what's worse was that at first I thought maybe I could.. well, scare her a little, but when I tried to grab her, she dropped the sack……"

"How is that scary?"

"No! It wasn't the fact that she dropped the sack, it was what rolled out of it…"

"What was it?"

"It was…."

"Well?"

"It was…. Was…."

"Get it out, man!"

"Your daughter!"

Jack blinked.

"Huh?"

"It was awful, she was bleeding all over. Around her mouth, on her body, blood was everywhere! It looked like someone put bolts in her, and then ripped them out!" (cough)

"Where was this? Tell me!"

"Over there, by the gates of town."

"Do you know where she was headed?"

"It, it looked like she was headed to Hourglass River in the Holiday Woods."

"Thank you!" Jack opened the door and grabbed his coat.

"Jack….. I'm coming with you," Sally said.

"No Sally, this is too dangerous. Besides, someone has to be here in case the kids wake up," Jack responded putting his coat on.

"But Jack, she may be your daughter, but she's mine too. I want to be there for her. I'm coming too," Sally said, also grabbing her coat. Jack looked at her and put his hands on her shoulders.

"No Sally.. I almost lost Zero, and I know I've just about lost Lailie. I can't lose you too," Jack turned and left the house, followed by the Vampire who was going to show him where the girl was headed. Sally stared out after them, longing to go with.

"All set, sir!" Wednesday said to Oogie as they looked at the trap they had set at the bank of the Hourglass River.

"Good. Now we just have to wait for Jack to come here to get his daughter before she bleeds to death," Boogie said with a smile.

"Sir….. I don't really think this is… right," Shock said shyly, knowing she might get punished.

"What do mean?" Boogie asked, looking at Shock.

"I just… don't like what you're doing," Shock responded quietly, rubbing the toe of her shoe into the soft dirt.

"Oh? I suppose you wouldn't mind joining Rag-Gal then, do you?" Boogie asked, motioning to Lailie, who was suspended above the river by a rope, dripping blood every few minutes. Shock shook her head slowly. She looked over at Barrel, who seemed to agree. Wednesday gave a soft snort at the two trick-or-treaters, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Aww... c'mon Shock! Don't be such a softie. We all know that Jack is gonna get here before she gets drained of blood." the girl said with a smirk. "Either him or that Alpha; 'Shoulda seen the look on that mutt's face."

"Ever since Lock left I've felt… different. Like I should have listened to him," Shock said, looking away from Wednesday sadly. Wednesday rolled her eyes.

"Get OVER IT! Geeze, I mean the boy's been gone for what, 5, 6 days! Besides, he miight just come back….," Wednesday said, looking up at Lailie.

"Yeah…. But I don't really want him to come back."

"Hm? Why?"

"He changed….. He always used to boss Barrel and I around because we were younger than him, but I guess all big brothers do that. But ever since we brought Boogie back, he's seemed more sad. When Lailie came along, he became a little more cheerful and a lot more less the Trick-Or-Treater he used to be. I just want him to be the person he used to be…" Wednesday looked over at Shock and noticed the slight hurt in her eyes.

"You miss the old him, don't you?" She asked, putting a hand on Shock's shoulder.

"We all do," Barrel said. "Boogie even misses him. I've notice ever since he hired you, he hasn't been the same. He's been a bit more…. Empty, like how…. Jack and Sally….. must feel…."

Jack crossed town, running as fast as he could. He crashed into the gates, forgetting they were there and fell backwards into another being. The vampire appeared in front of Jack.

"Are you ok, Jack?" he asked, helping him up.

"Yeah, perfectly fine, but what did I fall on?" Jack said, looking where he fell. There was a flattened shadow with blinking white slits Jack thought to be eyes. The shadow turned into swirling whisks of black smoke, which gathered to form Mace, who was poking at the corner of his mouth, which was bleeding a dark purple color.

"You fell on a plant." The wolf said sarcastically, rolling his eyes. "No... What do you THINK you fell on?"

"What are you doing here?" Jack asked sternly.

"Same reason why you are." Mace said with not an ounce of respect. In fact, his eyes were nearly blazing with hate right now. And the scowl didn't help matters much either.

"Well, _Excusez-moi_ oh mighty Alpha, but I should think you were in the Realm of Shadows with all the other Shadow Wolves."

"You thought wrong, old man. Now if you excuse ME, I would like to go get a certain Rag-Doll from the Hourglass River."

"Ah, ah, ah. Not so fast, young man."

"And why should I listen to you?" Mace snarled, baring even more of his over-sized fangs. "You broke the agreement that has been in place for more than 500 years."

The Pumpkin King of that time made an agreement with the Alpha of that time that the Shadow Wolves would be respectful as they tread on the Halloween Town lands and that the Pumpkin King would leave his nose out of the Shadow Realms. The two had shook hands to seal the new agreement, though anyone watching could tell that they were disgusted at even touching each other. But they both knew that it would be for the best since right now there were kills on both sides. This agreement was to last forever to guarantee the peace between the two separate realms. And this very same agreement was now in the hands of Tempest, who sneezed.

"I have the feeling that someone's talking about something that's connected to me," the girl muttered, rubbing her nose with a thumb.

"Agreement?" Jack asked, cocking his head slightly to one side.

"Yeah! 500 years ago, Alpha Tendai made an agreement with King Scarazone that the two realms would live in peace and harmony forever, ending a great war between the two; and since you gave Tempest full control of the Shadow Realm, that vow has been broken!" Mace explained angrily. Jack blinked. He had known nothing of his ancestor's agreement, and didn't realize he had broken that seal. After a few quite moments, Jack realized something else.

"Wait…. I didn't give Tempest anything," he said, exiting deep thought. Mace blinked.

"Huh?" he asked.

"I told Tempest that the Realm of Shadows would be under her full control IF Lailie was returned home by sundown, correct?" Jack started to explain. Mace nodded.

"And Lailie wasn't returned," Mace added, realizing what Jack was getting at.

"Which means.."

"The agreement is void!" The two screeched happily, then jumped up and down hugging each other. They stopped dead and realized they were even TOUCHING each other and backed 5 feet away. Jack cleared his throat.

"Well, we should go get Lailie from the Hourglass River,' he said. Mace nodded and followed Jack into the Holiday Woods.

**Ok! Wasn't that fun? -sarcasm- ahem, anyway, I hope you enjoyed this, I know I did. Once again I would like to thank WolfDog21 for helping me write this story, she has been a great help when my Writer's Block pops up. Ttyl!**


	17. Changing Back

**Torn**

**Part 17: Battle of the Sides**

Jack and Mace rushed towards the River at top speed, Jack running, Mace speeding as a Shadow Wolf. They swerved a lot once they entered the forest so they wouldn't hit trees, which slowed them down a bit, but they still made it there in record timing: 8.34 minutes.

Boogie and his gang heard the sound of fast feet and paws and hid in the bushes. Lailie regained consciousness right before Jack and Mace arrived. She blinked and opened her eyes, staring into the tall trees, then down into the glassy river below. A flabbergasted look crossed her face when she saw Jack and Mace run up to the edge of the River, but was too weak from blood loss to say anything.

"Lailie!" Jack yelled once he saw his daughter dangling above the River; but before neither he nor Mace could do anything, a tangle of black vines sprung from the ground below their feet and bound the two. Mace bit and tore violently at the vines, but they gained sharp purple thorns that poked at his skin.

"Hey, what gives!" he asked turning human, succeeding in making the thorns hurt more.

"Oooo! He fell for it, Oogie!" Wednesday exclaimed, jumping out from behind a bush. She smiled and walked over to the two and got up in Mace's face. "And look what ELSE we caught! Me-ow!" Mace growled and bared his large fangs at the girl. Wednesday giggled and winked at Mace, then pretended to check the vines to make sure they were secure.

"Don't worry, I'll get you guys out of here," she whispered into Mace's ear, then turned back around and faced Boogie, who had come out of hiding with the other Trick-or-Treaters.

"Everything's secure!"

"Good, I don't want them slipping away from me when I taunt and torture them," Oogie said with a chuckle, then clapped his hands. "Azalia, Alida, bring me Rag-Gal." Azalia and another fairy that was considerably darker looking than her came out from behind Boogie and headed for Lailie. For one thing, Alida had her original body. She also was wearing a dark violet dress with net sleeves and tights. Her dark green hair was wavy and some of the hair was pulled up into a small ponytail. She wore boot-like high heels and her cold, large but pretty gray eyes shone brightly, even in the dark of the night. In fact, she gave off the wrong first impression.

While Azalia and Alida were getting Lailie, Boogie waddled over to Jack and Mace.

"Did you really think you could save your little girl so easily, Jack?" he asked, chuckling. Jack was about to open his mouth to talk but a vine that decided to not let him talk made it impossible. Instead, Jack gave the boogie man a stern look. Oogie crossed over to Mace.

"And you… oh you're in big trouble Wolf Boy. You were supposed to get the other kids for me. Why haven't I seen them yet?" Oogie stated, starting to get angry. Jack looked over at Mace in some surprise before it finally came back to him that the Alpha was working for Oogie... and stabbed Sally. Mace gave a soft snarl.

"I told you that I don't take your orders anymore!"

"'Don't take your orders anymore'?" Oogie repeated before laughing loudly. "Did you hear that?" he asked the trick or treaters behind him. "He said he doesn't work for me anymore! Well, sorry to burst your bubble Mace, but until you or your pack pays off that debt, yer gonna be working for me for a long, long, time."

The rag-doll shook her head slightly, clearing her mind from the fog that had clouded it when she was retrieved from the rope. In doing so, she only caught onto, "...Mace... your pack pays off... yer gonna be working for me for a long, long, time." Her breathing became sharper as her mind wrapped around those few words she could hear. Tears started to prick at the back of her eyes. "Mace... you bastard..." she coughed up from her dry throat. Wednesday raised a brow at Lailie's soft words.

"What was that? I'm afraid you'll have to speak louder dear." she taunted, strutting over to her before bending down so that they were at eye-level. Lailie narrowed her eyes and stared over Wednesday's shoulder at Mace.

"You bastard." she hissed angrily. "You've been working for him all along weren't you! All of that stuff about you not wanting me to die... it was all play wasn't it!"

"No! It wasn't! I'm not working for him!" Mace said in reply, his ears drooping slightly at the malice in the girl's tone.

"Stop lying to me!"

"I'm not lying!"

"Sorry to interrupt, but……" Shock said. Everyone's head turned to the girl, who was standing with Wednesday, Barrel, and Lock. Lailie's eyes brightened._ Lock! He came! _She thought happily to herself.

"Boogie, this is enough! You've gone way too far!" Lock said, fuming. Oogie chuckled.

"Oh really? You want to see 'too far', boy? Azalia, Alida, get rid of him!" The two fairies flew at top speed towards Lock, their glowing red eyes leaving colored streaks. The 4 tricksters ducked and looked at Azalia and Alida.

"What did you DO to them!" Lock asked, ducking under a green blast.

"I just tested out my latest brainwash machine. I was planning on using it on Shock and Barrel, and maybe Wednesday, I decided I should test it first."

"I'M wondering how he got a Shadow Fairy to even get out of hiding," Mace remarked, wincing slightly at the thorned vines that were still poking him. Boogie glanced at Mace, seeming to not be impressed.

Jack, on the other hand, had been thinking the whole time this was going on. He had carefully taken Wednesday's Pocket Knife out of her half outstretched hand when she passed by him. He had sawed through the vines and silently and inconspicuously crossed over behind Mace. He cut those vines also, but kept them together for the time being. He waited until Boogie had glanced at Mace before jumping out and shouting, "NOW!"

Boogie was surprised, but didn't have time to say anything due to Mace lunging on him and the trick-or-treaters smacking him with sticks. Jack scooped up Lailie in his arms and darted as quickly as he could from the river bank.

"No! Don't attack ME you imbeciles!" Boogie screeched while the shadow wolf started to tear him apart and the treaters started smacking him harder with the sticks. He held up a remote and a red laser shined in Mace's eyes. Mace blinked, then grinned.

"Wolf Boy, would you, ow, be so kind as to, ow, get these children away from me?" Boogie asked, wincing as the sticks hit his material-like shell. Mace hopped off of Boogie, his eyes glowing red.

"As you wish, master," Mace replied with no tone whatsoever.

_**Meanwhile…..**_

Jack and Lailie had re-entered Halloween Town and Jack slowed to a steady fast-walk. Lailie just sat there, thinking to herself as she scratched dried blood off her arms. _Mace is such a jerk……trying to convince me he wasn't been working for Boogie…… he's probably in on this whole game too. Lousy rotten Wolf……_ She thought angrily to herself. Jack looked down at the fuming girl in his long arms and tilted his head.

"Everything alright dear?" he asked.

"Pff….. Don't I wish.. Just give it up Dad," Lailie said, glancing up at her father. "I know what's going on."

"What are you talking about?"

"You should know. You and Mom started all of this. I know it's all just an act to try and get me to think you love me."

"But Lailie, we do love you; this isn't an act, its reality!"

"Liar!" Lailie's eyes seemed to spark as they faded into green. The tips of her hair started to turn blonde. Jack, of course, noticed this and gasped.

"Lailie?" he asked, setting her down on a nearby bench and kneeling to get to her eye level. She was mumbling to herself as the color of her hairstarted to fade ing blonde.

"This is all… just a dream…. A big, big long dream….. I.. went into another coma.. That's it! I'm not really here… it's all, just a dream… just a dream….," she mumbled.

"Lailie, this isn't a dream, you're not a human! Stop lying to your self," Jack pleaded, shaking his daughter a little.

"Just a dream… any minute now you'll wake up and be Eliza again…. Just plain, ol' Eliza Walker….."

"Lailie, snap out of it! You're not a human, nor will you ever be again!" Jack didn't know how to cope with her, so he did the first thing he could think of. He scooped his daughter up again and ran down the street to Dr. Finklestein's lab. But when he got there, the doctor didn't answer. He was gone. Now Jack didn't know what to do; his eldest child was changing into a human in his arms and he needed the doctor to reverse the effect. So, he did the next thing that came to mind; ask the Mayor where the Dr. was.

"Just sign here and you will become a certified citizen!" the Mayor said, pushing a piece of paper towards the young woman sitting in front of him.

She had red hair that covered the left side of her face and she had one visible electric green eye that was half covered by half-moon spectacles. She wore a long black Tee that said, "By reading this you gave me temporary control over your mind" and flare jeans that covered her gray shoes. Her long red nails were so sharp they could have been used as weapons. She smiled and took the bone like pen and signed the name 'Beate'.

The Mayor took the pen and the paper and looked at it.

"Welcome to Halloween Town, Miss…. Beat?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. The young woman's expression turned from happy to frustrated.

"It's pronounced Bay-Ah-Tay….," she said, sweat dropping.

"Oh… Sorry, my bad. Welcome anyway!"

The door flew open and slammed against the wall. Jack rushed in, still holding Lailie in his arms. Her hair was just about fully blonde and some of her stitches had started to fade.

"Mayor! Where's Dr. Finklestein!" he asked urgently. The Mayor jumped.

"I don't know! He hasn't left town for all I know. Check the stores or something," The Mayor responded, eying Lailie, who looked very much in pain. "What's wrong with Lailie?"

"She's trying to turn back into a human and I need the Doctor to stop it," Jack said, looking down as his daughter and frowning sadly.

"Here, let me help!" Beate said, jumping up and moving the hair off of the right side of her face. Instead of an eye was a crystal-like mirror. "Show us where Dr. Finklestein is." The mirror seemed to quiver like it was cold, then an image of the Witch's Shop appeared. Jack stared, then shook the surprise from him, thanked Beate and rushed from the office.

**Right…. Sorry this took so long. X.x School and Plays and Block has gotten in the way of my writing this. So yea. Hope ya enjoy the new characters. Oh, and I will constantly be pronouncing Beate's name. It's German, so it's not pronounced Beat, it's pronounced Bay-Ah-Tay.**


	18. One Afternoon's Stroll Part 1

**Torn**

**Part 18: One Evening's Stroll, Part 1**

"Will she be ok?" Sally asked Dr. Finklestein worriedly. The Doctor just wheeled himself around the operation style table in his lab and put a hand on Lailie's wrist.

"Her blood pressure has stabilized. She should be fine after she gets some rest and some fluids," Dr. Finklestein reported. Jack and Sally relaxed and let out a sigh of relief.

"I'm so glad. I can't believe she was able to try and turn herself back into a human…" Jack said, scratching his skull.

"I bet it was her power going out of control with wanting to be human again," the Dr. stated, wheeling back over to his creation and her husband.

"What do you mean? How do you know about her power?" Sally asked.

"Tempest dropped by not too long ago, said Lailie developed some kind of power when Tempest let out a spell to stop the Three Trick-or-treaters from splatting on the ground. She said Lailie could lose control of it at first, so she may be needing to come back every once in a while. She told me to keep it a secret and to not talk about it unless the person already knows."

"Oh. Well, we best be leaving now. We left Madison and the twin's home by themselves, and it's getting late," Jack said, picking his now normal daughter up in his arms and turning to the door. Sally nodded and started after Jack.

"Ok then, I'll see you out," the doctor said, wheeling her chair after them.

They said their final good-byes at the door and Jack and Sally headed back home.

"Thanks for calling me, Jack," Sally said as they walked down the street.

"How could I not? She's your daughter too. I know how worried you were," Jack responded.

"Thanks anyway." The two walked silently down the quiet streets. They reached the gates to their home and Sally turned to Jack.

"Hey, how did you know Lailie was turning back into a human?" she asked, looking up at Jack.

"I've seen her as a human. I know what she looked like, and that's what she was turning into," Jack responded, fumble for his keys and unlocking the gate while trying to hold Lailie with one arm. They got inside and Sally took Lailie upstairs. Jack said goodnight to Madison and the twins and walked into Lailie's room.

Sally had jut put Lailie under the covers and kissed her on the cheek.

"Hey. Is she all cleaned up?" Jack asked, walking over to Sally, who was combing her daughters bangs with a finger.

"Yep. I changed her into her PJ's too," Sally responded, looking up at her husband, who sat down next to her.

The next morning was almost like nothing happened. Lailie got up at 10:00 as usual and walked downstairs for breakfast. There she was greeted and smothered with affection by her loving parents and siblings. She just kinda ignored them and got out some cereal and a bowl. Her family members tried to strike up a conversation, but Lailie wouldn't speak a word. It was when everyone was silent and the only things that could be heard were the sound of paper rustling and the soft chewing of crunchy cereal that Lailie said anything.

"Jack…. I mean Dad. Why did you kill me?" she asked, stirring her milk and cereal slowly with her spoon, not lifting her eyes.

"I'm sorry love, what was that?" Jack asked, putting down the newspaper and looking at his daughter.

"You killed me when I was human and brought me here."

"Oh. Right." Jack cleared his throat and glanced at Sally, who raised an eyebrow. "You see, that Halloween when I came to get you, you were still a human. Dr. Finklestein said the Shadow Wolves' goo would completely leave your system in six years time; and since Halloween is the day you were turned human and the day you turned 12, the spell should have worn off at the stroke of 6:00, which was when you were attacked. When I came to get you at 10:00, however, the spell hadn't worn off. So I didn't quite know what to do. I knew you wouldn't believe me if I told you you were a rag doll and this wasn't your real life. So the only way to get you back was to kill you."

"But you looked so… so evil, so… excited when you stabbed me…"

"You STABBED her!" Sally interrupted, standing up and nearly knocking the table over.

"Well I didn't know what else to do, Sally!" Jack said, trying to calm Sally down.

"You could have just kidnapped her." Madison said quietly from her seat. Everyone looked at her.

"What?" Jack asked.

"You could have just kidnapped her and had the doctor change her back," Madison said, taking a bite of toast.

"I wish you had thought of that two years ago.." Lailie complained, glancing at Jack, who smiled uneasilyand sweat dropped.

The afternoon came rolling by and Lailie needed to get out of the house. She had been stuck playing Dead Man's Grave with her younger siblings all morning; the game usually last 3 or 4 hours, so it killed a lot of time. Her parents wouldn't let her leave though, fearing something might happen again.

"But mom! I've been cooped up in here all morning! I need some air!" Lailie complained to Sally, who was stitching more length into Lailie's dress.

"No sweetie. Your still in your Pajamas and your dress isn't finished. Plus it's not safe out there until we get Boogie into the Realm of Shadows again," Sally responded, not taking her eyes off her work.

"I have other outfits!" Lailie argued, not sounding her age. "Besides, you all forgot my birthday!" Sally turned around and stuck a finger on Lailie's nose.

"We didn't forget. We're just busy. You father is all tied up in his handiwork for tonight, and I have to finish some costumes. You should be getting ready too. I realize you just got back, but we don't want to almost lose you again. So please go play with your sister and the twins. Oh, and visit Zero sometime please. He hasn't been feeling the greatest since Shock attacked him." Sally turned back around and let the fuming rag doll stomp to the kitchen.

"Darn it, you fools!" Boogie yelled, slamming his fists on the edge of the table in front of him. Shock, Barrel, Wednesday, and the newly brainwashed Mace cringed slightly. "You were supposed to make sure Jack didn't get away. SOMEONE slipped him that pocket knife." He looked at Barrel.

"Don't look at me sir, I didn't do nothing," Barrel said.

"Hmm… No one but Wednesday and Wolf boy here has pockets. Hhmmm… Wolf boy could've used one of his own knives to cut through those vines, but I saw his hands the whole time and they didn't touch them. This leaves… You," Boogie evaluated, pointing to Wednesday. Wednesday smiled innocently and sweat dropped.

"I didn't do anything, I'm completely loyal to you, sir!" Wednesday pleaded, thinking quickly. The interrogation was brought to a quick close when the double doors behind them burst open. Azalia and Alida floated in, their eyes red and puffy. They were completely beat up and in horrible shape. They landed on Wednesday and Mace's shoulders and completely flopped.

"What happened to you two?" Boogie asked, starting to lose some patience.

"That Jack Skellington dude fricken sicked his 5 year old twins on us. Ohh.. the pain!" Azalia said, cringing.

"What?" Shock asked, looking at the fairy.

"Those two threw us around and acted like we were dolls," Alida said, shivering.

"Well you two DO look like dolls…" Mace said in a bland sort of manner, casting his red eyes over at them.

"Shut up," Azalia scowled, not even bothering to look at him.

"Both of you shut up," Boogie said impatiently. "Did you find anything out?"

"No.. unless how being tortured by five year olds felt," Alida said almost forcing herself to even talk. Mace snickered.

"Maybe I should go," He volunteered, closing his eyes and crossing his arms.

"What? Why you?" Barrel asked.

"Because I used to be Lailie's best friend. I can get anything out of her!"

"OR we could get Lock from the dungeons and force him."

"I like my idea better!"

"Only because you're in it!"

"You guys shut up!" Wednesday interrupted, smacking both of them on the face. The boys blinked and looked at each other.

"Now, I say we should go with Wolf boy's idea," Oogie said quickly, getting furious. Mace crossed him arms proudly, then bowed.

"Thank you, sir!" he said. "I'll prepare at once!"

Lailie lay quietly on her bed, swirling a spoon in a bowl of pudding she made. Her free hand was resting under her chin and Zerowas curled ina ball on her back.

"Oh Zero… I feel so alone here in Halloween Town… I just wanna… Wanna get out of here, find something new to explore," she fantasized, staring at her ceiling. Zero lifted an ear and opened an eye. He whimpered slightly and glided over to her cheek and licked it. Lailie giggled and nuzzled the ghost dog on his pumpkin shaped nose. The door flew open with a bang and nearly sent the rag doll and dog through the ceiling. Jack rushed in carrying a box with holes in it.

"Happy Birthday, Love!" He exclaimed happily, holding the box out to his newly pudding covered daughter. Lailie took the box, looked at it, and then up at her father. He had a wide grin on his boney face and seemed quite pleased with himself. Zero barked happily and started to lick pudding off Lailie's cheek while she took the black ribbon off the orange box. She took of the lid and saw nothing but cushy, velvet padding. She blinked, then turned the box upside down. There was a small squeak and a plump mouse looking creature with large ears, a long tail, and fur the color of blood plopped onto the bed. It was a lot like a plushie, with stitches and all, although it had small bat wings, a black witch hat with yellow stars, the reflexes of a cat, and a very innocent and cute looking face. Lailie smiled and picked the small creature up. It barely fit in both palms it was so small.

"Well? What do you think?" Jack asked, putting his hands on his 'hips', still looking rather pleased with himself.

"I think it's adorable! What is it?" Lailie asked excitedly, letting the furry creature nibble at her fingers.

"I'm not very sure.. I think it's called a Gurit."

"I love it dad! Thanks so much!" Lailie rushed over to Jack to give him a hug, but cringed and held up her finger, which had the Gurit hanging off it. "Owie.. I guess it likes to bite.."

"Yeah.. They tend to like to bite things, so you might want to find it something to chew on." Lailie pried it off her finger and held it in her hands again. They watched it spluttered some smoke into Lailie's hand, then blink innocently like it didn't do anything.

"Um… does it breathe Fire?" Lailie asked coughing a little.

"Not yet. This one's still a baby. You'd be surprised at how big these little guys get," Jack said, bending over slightly and petting it on the head. It let out a little squeak, then purred.

"I think I'll name it…… Crimson," Lailie stated, poking the creature's small nose. Crimson chirped with delight and clutched Lailie's hand as if it were hugging it. Lailie looked up at her father and for once thought he really did love her. Not because he got her a Gurit, but because he actually remembered her Birthday and went through the trouble to try and find something she liked.

**Sorry if this part bored you. I had some bad Block for a little bit, but now I have ideas and I tried to jam pack them into one part, but I couldn't. So, all the action is in the next part. Stay tuned, It should be up sometime this week maybe.**


	19. One Afternoo's Stroll Part 2

**iTorn**

**Part 19: One Evening's Stroll Part 2**

Lailie spent the rest of the afternoon playing with Crimson and Zero in her room. During that time, Crimson had taken a liking to Lailie and decided she was its mother; Lailie had decided that she was going to leave the house for a while tomorrow; and Zero had become more care-free than ever. But the time for Halloween Ceremonies came by quickly, and it was time to go.

"Lailie! Let's go!" Jack called up the stairs.

"Coming!" Lailie called back, quickly throwing on her special Halloween Dress and shoes. She grabbed Crimson, stuck it on her shoulder and rushed down the stairs.

"So what's our new scare this year, honey?" Sally asked as they left.

"Oh, you'll see," Jack said with a smile. Lailie looked at her father and had a moment's panic. But then she remembered that Jack and Sally loved each other and decided her thought was too off the handle and he would never do that to her. Anyway, the family parted from Jack at the graveyard gates and headed for the square. They had just arrived when Lailie got a scare. She felt an icy hand touch her shoulder and jumped, backhanding whoever it was right on the nose. She spun to see Mace keeled over, both hands covering a bleeding nose. She gasped and rushed over to the humanized shadow wolf.

"Oh my god Mace, I'm sorry!" she said. Crimson roared and lunged its tiny body at Mace and latched itself onto his hand. Mace yelped in pain and uncovered half his nose, which was oozing a dark purple substance. He shook his hand franticly, but Crimson's long sharp fangs wouldn't let go of his flesh. Lailie pried Crimson off Mace and bopped it on the nose. It sneezed, then looked innocently up at Lailie, who just stuck it back on her shoulder.

"Are you ok?" she asked mace, fumbling for the tissue in her pocket. Mace looked at his now bleeding hand, then took the tissue. Lailie looked at him, then noticed his red and eyes and backed away. Mace gave her a cold stare as he chucked the purple covered tissue onto the ground. At that point Lailie really wished she wasn't wearing the fluffy black and orange dress that didn't even go down to her knees. It was hard to run in a dress like that if she had to.

Mace still didn't say a word as he advanced on the rag-doll. Crimson hissed again and lunged at him, but the shadow wolf smacked it away. Lailie didn't know what to do, her family and the rest of the citizens had departed from the area and the only people left were herself and the brainwashed boy. She started to run, but Mace grabbed her wrist, spun her around and pulled her close to his body.

"We want you back….," He hissed quietly into her ear. Lailie struggled in the wolf's strong grip.

"Nuh.. Mace, what's wrong with you! Leggo!" Lailie asked, pulling back from him.

"Don't tell me what to do, Rag-doll. I only obey Oogie," Mace said, slapping the poor girl. Lailie was speechless from shock. Mace had never slapped her before. She was so very confused now.

"Oogie? I KNEW you still worked for him!" Lailie exclaimed, snapping out a shock and trying to pry his fingers off her wrist. Mace countered by digging his claws into her skin just enough to inflict a little pain. He smiled and pulled the girl back to his chain covered torso.

"You're coming back, whether you like it or not," he stated, his red eyes narrowing. Lailie screamed as loud as she could to try and get some attention, elbowed Mace in the stomach and stumbled backwards.

Jack was just about to start his new scare when the scream echoed through his and everyone else's ears. All head turned and Sally recognized her daughter's yell. Jack met up with her at the gates wearing his scarecrow outfit. They both rushed to scene and arrived to see Lailie pinned against a wall by Mace, who was holding her left arm behind her back. Jack growled, as did Sally. Sally knew from the start that boy was no good and this didn't prove he was good to her, but Jack knew he had SOME good in him, and he knew he would never treat Lailie like this. The two slipped silently behind Mace and smacked him over the head with a rock. The shadow wolf dropped to the ground unconscious. Lailie backed up and tripped over Mace and tumbled, then stared up into her Parent's faces. Her eyes sparkled. _I can't believe they rescued me!_ She thought excitedly to herself. Jack smiled at the glee on his daughter's face. He finally felt things were starting to become straight between him and his daughter. Sally helped her daughter up and brushed her off.

"Thanks for coming to help me," Lailie said, smiling up at her parents.

"We couldn't not come, especially when we saw that THAT," Sally said, sending a look of distaste at the unconscious shadow wolf.

Silence…….

"I don't think Mace was trying to hurt Lailie," Jack said after a minute or two. Sally looked at him.

"Really?" She asked.

"I'm not certain, but I know he would never treat her like that." He turned to Lailie. "We're his eyes glowing red?" Lailie nodded, but said nothing.

"Jack! JJAACCKK!" the Mayor's voice called as he waddled down the street, followed by the citizens of the small town. Jack bent down and flung Mace over his shoulder, then turned to the Mayor.

"What is it?"

"What's… going on? We need to…. Get on with the scaring..," the Mayor panted, stopping in front of the four. Kevin and Kyle emerged from the crowd, each of them holding one of Madison's hands.

"Mommy, Daddy…. What's going on? Why is bad wolf man who stab mommy over your shoulder?" Kyle asked, pointing.

"And why do you not pay attention to us anymore. It's always Lailie this, Lailie that. We didn't even know who Lailie WAS until two years ago…," Madison complained staring up at her family. Jack sighed. Now he felt bad about ignoring his other children. He hoped they didn't think he didn't love them anymore like Lailie did.

"I'm sorry kids.. It's just a hard time right now. Everything will be back to normal once we get Oogie Boogie of your sister and I's backs, ok? I give the promise of the Pumpkin King and the promise of a loving father," Jack vowed, ruffling his young daughter's hair and smiling. "I'll be right back, I need to go put this trouble maker somewhere before he wakes up."

"I'm coming with you," the rest of his family said in unison. Jack sighed. He knew he couldn't stop them. So, he took his wife's hand and they walked hurriedly down the street to their house. Lailie insisted on putting Mace in her room, which made Jack a little concerned. They ended up chaining him to the Living room couch with chains he couldn't melt out of.

Sssssscccrrrreeeeeeeeecccchhhh!

Jack answered the door to see the Mayor and the rest of Halloween Town standing at his door.

"We need to get out of here before 7:00, Jack or the humans will be in bed," the Mayor said nervously, poking his watch quickly. Jack smiled and nodded. His turned and kissed each of his children on the forehead, and turned to Sally.

"Be careful Jack," she said, kissing him on his bone cheek.

"I will," he responded, kissing her on the forehead.

"Jaack!" the Mayor complained.

"I'm coming! Bye Sally, kids. I'll be back around 10:00."

"Bye Daddy!" Madison, Kevin and Kyle said in unison, waving. Lailie just looked on.

"Good… Bye…." Was her low, mournful sounding response as she watched Jack and the other citizens of Halloween Town leave her porch. A loud howl emitted from the house, like a sign saying that Mace had woken up and wanted out. Lailie quickly slipped inside before she could get caught up in any argument with Sally about going inside alone. She headed over to the couch, where she saw Mace trying to squirm and melt away from the chains. The shadow wolf sensed her presence and watched her, never taking his red eyes off her. She sat down on the couch opposite and sighed. Mace gave a low growl at the rag-doll, pulling the chains at his wrists in an attempt to leap at her; or perhaps, to scare her. You couldn't really tell, not when one's attention were most likely on the red-eyes or the too-long fangs as he snarled. Lailie gave a small jump at the sudden movement, invoking a barking laugh from the shadow wolf.

"Panicky little thing, aren't you?" he growled with a smirk, now leaning against the couch as if he felt completely relaxed and at home. The only thing that gave him away were the slight twitches in his arms and ears. Lailie sneered at him.

"What's up with you lately, Mr. We-Want-You-Back?" she asked, folding her arms stubbornly. Mace snorted.

"Nothing's wrong with me," he said, tapping his foot slightly like he was anxious to be somewhere at the moment. Lailie looked carefully at him.

"Your eyes are like those two Fairies' eyes…. And they were brainwashed..," she said, scooting to the end of the couch and leaning in slightly on the humanized wolf. Mace gave her a funny look.

"I wonder how you change them back… There must be SOME sort of antidote," she said more to herself than to him.

"Well Master said to try my best to not get surprised. Wait, why am I telling you this? I'm supposed to get you and take you back to Master and not tell you anything," Mace stated, then becoming slightly confused. Lailie grinned uncannily like her father would. It was quite frightening, actually. It made Mace pull back into the couch a little bit. She got up, her almost too short fluffy dress bouncing slightly as she did so. She sat down on the other couch on her knees and grinned at the wolf as he scooted away from her.

"What are you doing?" he asked, getting a little creeped out. Lailie just continued to advance on him, an evil glint in her eye. Mace reached the end on the couch and the end of the chains attached to his wrists and stared at the rag-doll who looked like she was about to climb over him.

"What's wrong, Mace? Not SCARED of me, are you?" Lailie asked, still grinning evilly.

"N-no, of course not. Who could be afraid of a pathetic rag-doll like you?" Mace asked, tugging on the chains to see if he could jump off the couch.

"Panicky little thing, aren't you?" Lailie quoted; a hint of sarcasm and mocking in her voice. Mace growled.

"Don't mock me." he snarled, sitting up straighter to defy her. "And I'm the ones with the chains here. As much as I loathe to admit, you have the upper hand. I have a reason to be panicky."

"Oh? And what could I do to you if I'm just a pathetic rag-doll like myself?" Mace shot her an angry glare.

"I don't know. I'm not you. I'm not a rag-doll. How the hell am I supposed to know what you think?" he retorted, leaning in her direction and making the chains jangle slightly. Lailie bobbed her head lightly from side to side.

"Well, you have a point there," she said. "What do you think I'm thinking?"

"I think you're thinking of torturing me."

"What would make you say that?"

He sneered at her, once again leaning back against the couch.

"What wouldn't?" he shot back.

"Well…. There's the fact that that's NOT what I'm thinking… Unless this is torture," she responded, sitting up onto her knees. She put her hands on Mace's shoulders and pressed her lips against his.

His eyes widened considerably, his shoulder blades pressing back against the cushion of the couch when Lailie pressed her weight onto his shoulders. So great a shock was this, that he forgot that there was a great opportunity to grapple the Pumpkin Princess and force her to his will. White mixed in with the red of his eyes, making the orbs resemble swirls of different hues of red. Within a couple of short moments, his eyes were completely white again, save for the thin slash of a pupil that focused itself on the girl.

Lailie hadn't realized the wolf was back to normal until he deepened the kiss, but by that point the door burst open and Lailie forced herself to unlock her lips from his.

"LAILIE JASPER SKELLINGTON!" Sally's voice boomed through the downstairs of the house. Lailie looked at her now completely angry mother and bit her bottom lip. Mace once again tried to melt through the chains, but it only caused Lailie to fall over onto him more.

"Mom! This isn't what it looks like!" Lailie yelled, struggling to untangle herself from Mace's chains.

"I'm glad I came in when I did! You are in so much trouble, young lady!" Sally yelled, stomping over to the two, both of which were crimson. Lailie fell sideways off the couch after Mace lifted up one of the chains.

"Mrs. Skellington, I can explain-" Mace started, trying to sound as polite as he could.

"Be quite!" Sally ordered him as she picked up her 14 year old daughter off the floor by her arm. "What were you doing Lailie! Giving yourself a birthday present or what!"

"No! Mom, I was just-" Lailie protested, but was cut off by Sally.

"Kissing the guy who nearly kidnapped you." finished Sally with a scowl.

"Kidnapped?" Mace questioned, actually starting to realize he was chained to the Skellington's Living room couch and that he had just been kissing the girl of his dreams. "Wait, why am I chained to the couch?" Sally turned on him.

"Don't start that innocent act on me, Wolf-Boy. You know exactly why you're on that couch and you are going to STAY there until Jack gets home!" she yelled, waving a finger at Mace. He sunk into the couch a little ways and was almost cross-eyed he stared at the scolding finger. Sally turned to Lailie.

"You will wait upstairs in your room until your father gets home tonight," she said, leading the other rag-doll to the stairs.

"But I-" Lailie once again tried to argue with her mother, but Sally gave her a death glare.

_**Later that night……..**_

Lailie laid on her stomach on her bed. Crimson had found it's way up to her room, so she put it on her bed and teased it with a piece of yarn. She sighed.

"Oh Crimson…. Why did I enjoy that kiss so much? Mace is such a jerk, I don't even know why I kissed him…" she said as she moved her feet back and forth in the air, one hand under her chin. Crimson looked up at her and continued to chomp the red yarn. "Maybe it's because I've never kissed anybody…. No wait. That's a lie. Lock kissed me that one time….."

There was a knock on her door.

"What is it?" Lailie asked, starting to chew on the sleeve of her orange and black pumpkin PJ's.

"Momma and Daddy want to see you, LayLay," Kevin and Kyle's voices chimed form outside the door. Lailie sighed and got up.

"Tell them I'll be down in a minute," she groaned, picking up Crimson and sticking it on her shoulder. "Well, here comes Jack's hurricane. Wish me luck, Crim." Crimson just squeaked and smiled innocently at her. Lailie sighed and opened her door and walked downstairs and into the living room, where Mace still sat chained to the couch.

"Lailie, what's going on?" he asked quietly as she walked by. She stopped and turned to face him. She could hardly look at him….

"You were brainwashed by Oogie Boogie and tried to kidnap me earlier… so Jack and mom knocked you out and chained you to the couch…. Then when you woke up I came in to try and figure out was wrong with you. I figured it out, we had a weird little conversation…. And I kissed you and mom walked in just as you were normal again," Lailie explained quietly. Mace blinked.

"Oh….," he said, turning back around.

"You sound disappointed."

"Lailie!" Sally's voice came from the kitchen. Lailie looked from Mace to the ground.

"I should get into the kitchen before my mom explodes again. Be prepared," Lailie said, walking towards the kitchen. When she entered Sally and Jack were sitting at the kitchen table, Sally still looking rather angry, Jack looking completely clueless. Lailie sat down in a chair.

"You want to tell your father something, Lailie?" Sally asked, motioning to Jack.

"Um… Thanks for saving me earlier?" Lailie questioned, glancing from Jack to Sally.

"I walked in on our daughter and that wolf-boy KISSING on the couch. They were practically GLUED together until I came in," Sally said angrily to Jack.

"What! Lailie, is this true!" Jack asked, starting to lose his temper as well. Lailie shrunk in her chair.

"Yes…" she said quietly.

"Lailie! How could you! You KNOW why you can't interact with that boy! It's forbidden!" Jack exclaimed, slamming his fist onto the table. Lailie flinched.

"It wasn't going to go that far, dad! I'm not stupid," Lailie said, making sure to say dad instead of Jack.

"Well then why'd you kiss him in the first place?" Jack asked loudly. Lailie flinched again.

"Please dad, not so loud…"

"WELL!"

"I don't know!"

"You don't know?"

"No… I don't…."

"I think you do."

Lailie slouched even farther down in her chair. She felt small and quite nauseous. She didn't exactly want to talk about her kissing Mace right now. She really didn't know why she did it…. but she had two ideas in her mind. 1) She was inconspicuously being hypnotized my Mace; or 2) She did it to get Mace back to normal. Right now, her mind was agreeing with number 2.

"Well Lailie? If you weren't planning to break the rules, what were you planning?" Jack asked, obviously not buying that Lailie didn't know why she kissed him. Lailie sent a glare at Jack, then the kitchen table suddenly bursting into green flames. Sally screamed, Jack jumped and Lailie just sat there. Jack and Sally pushed away from the table, both in shock.

"Lailie? What did you-?" Jack started, fumbling for words. Lailie just continued to look at her parents as she sat up and rested her arms on the green flames.

"I don't want to talk about Mace anymore, ok! What happened happened and nothing you do or say will ever change that!" She yelled, standing up and striding quickly from the room, the green flame disappearing once she turned into the living room.

"Lailie! What was that about?" Mace asked as he watched Lailie climb onto the coffee table and grab something off the fan. She came back down holding an ivory key with a skull on the top.

"Just shut up and get out of here before my parents blow up again," she said stubbornly, unlocking the chains connected to his wrists.

"But-"

"SHUT UP AND GO!"

Mace gave her a worried looked, then melted into the shadows of the couch.

Mace arrived in his pack's den a swirl of black smoke. The cave was quite stuffy, so Mace had to take several breathes before turning into a wolf and padding to his special room reserved for the Alpha only. In another swirl of black he was a human again. He put a palm to his forehead and walked slowly towards his bed with his eyes shut

"Kissed any Princesses lately, Mace?" said a female voice. Mace's eyes shot open and he looked up at the humanized she-wolf on his bed.

"How do you know about that, Kipcha?" he asked, sitting down next to her.

"Neh. Traveling. You went to go get the Princess last night and never came back. Valor and I got a little worried so we went out to find you," Kipcha said, looking over at him.

"Wait, VALOR knows too! God Dammit how many people know!"

"Just Me, You and Valor. Anyway, we found you when the Princess back handed you in the nose. So, we followed you from there. And well… we watched you and her kiss until we heard the door fly open. Then we ran for it."

Mace groaned, then Valor burst into the room.

"Mace! My man!" exclaimed the spiky haired wolf as he ran over and gave Mace a noogie.

"And how am I your man, exactly?" Mace asked, pushing away from the headlock.

"You actually got a girl to kiss you!"

"Yeah... A forbidden girl…"

"Pff, so what! Getting a girl to kiss me would make me proud, not sulky. Especially if it was Kipcha here." This add on earned Valor and slap across the face from the she-wolf.

"It's just….. I'm not allowed to be with her, especially since she's Jack's daughter. If any of this every leaked out, I would be ejected from the pack, and maybe even Halloween Town," Mace said gloomily.

"Well, you have to choose your soul mate soon, Mace," Kipcha said. "When you hit 23 you need to have your mate already picked out."

"Mind you that I'll be 23 in 6YEARS, thank you. I have time."

"What I'm saying Mace, is that you should spend that 6 years with your soul mate, so you can get to know each other."

"But what if I don't like any of the pack members? I just wanna be with Lailie."

"You know why that won't work, Mace. Because if you do-"

"You'd get ejected from the pack and she couldn't bare your child anyway. I know."

"Let's just leave the poor Alpha to sulk, ok Sweetie?" Valor said, grinning at Kipcha. Kipcha glared at Valor, then patted Mace on the back and followed Valor from the room. Mace watched as they shut the door, then flopped backwards onto the bed and groaned.

"Why her? Can't I be interested in someone who ISN'T a citizen of Halloween Town, let alone the Pumpkin Princess?" he mumbled, staring at the little dancing stars on the ceiling of the cave.

**Mwahaha. A little bit of romance and tension there. Anyway, sorry it took so long for the update. I had such a bad block on this Wolfdog12 wrote a lot of the stuff after Lailie sat down on the opposite couch and sighed. I would like to thank her for helping me out a lot, especially with the kissing scene. I'm not very good with romance. x.X I made sure this part was long for the lost time. Thanks and Keep reading!**


	20. One Afternoon's Stroll Part 3

**Torn**

**Part 20: One Evenings Stroll Part 3**

Lailie stormed up the stairs and slammed her door. Crimson squeaked and spluttered smoke at the sudden noise. Lailie flung herself onto her bed and buried her face into her pillows. There was a soft knock on her door, then Jack entered.

"Lailie…" he started, walking over to her and sitting down on her bed. Lailie lifted her head and looked back at him, tears threatening to fall from her eyes.

"What do you want?" she asked angrily. "If it's about Mace I won't answer."

"Lailie, your mom and I didn't mean to get so angry with you. We're just concerned. You know why the citizens aren't allowed to have relationships with the Shadow Wolves," Jack said. "Your mom was just trying to protect you earlier. She didn't want him to-"

"I wouldn't have let him go that far, dad! I'm not completely clueless, ok? I know my limits!" Lailie argued. "Besides, I only kissed him to snap him out of it." Jack blinked.

"What?" he asked, starting to understand.

"Mace was brainwashed ok? I kissed him to try and snap him out of it and it worked," Lailie said, not adding in that if Sally hadn't walked in, they probably wouldn't have let go of each other for a few more moments.

"Oh….," Jack said, put a hand to his boney chin.

"I swear you guys never let me talk…" Lailie muttered into her pillows. There was a long silence, which was broken by Crimson squeaking happily as it tumbled around the bed. Jack smiled at the Gurit and petted it.

"I'm glad you told me the truth, Lailie," he said, looking back at his daughter. "I'll be sure to tell your mother."

"Can you please leave now?" Lailie's voice was muffled by the pillows, but it sounded as though she was on the verge of tears. Jack smiled and kissed Lailie on the side of her forehead, then got up and left. Lailie looked up from her pillows to make sure the door was shut, then grabbed a pillow and turned around. She set her pillow beside Crimson and put her head on it, her eyes slightly pink and puffy.

"Crimson….. Why do I feel so…. Different?" she asked the totally oblivious mouse-like creature. She scratched behind one of its large ears, wishing that Crimson could really give her an answer. Crimson just gnawed on Lailie's finger, looking up at her every few seconds. Her eyes watered. She was so confused…. She still didn't know why she had kissed him, but she had to say something to her father that was reasonable. It was unexpected thing for her to do, and it even shocked Lailie quite a bit.

A few tears soaked into her pillow. Crimson let out a noise of sadness, then waddled over to her and licked her cheek. Lailie smiled softly.

"I'm sorry Crim. I don't even know why I'm crying…." She said almost in a whisper. Crimson just whimpered and curled up under Lailie's chin. Not too long afterwards, Lailie fell into a dreamless sleep.

She woke up the next morning on the floor. A blanket was placed on her and a pillow under her head. She squinted at her window. The sun was bright, but the black and orange dotted blinds blocked most of it out. She rubbed her eyes and looked at her clock as she sat up. 11:45. Lailie freaked. Her parents probably thought she ran away again! Just as she put her arms on her bed, her door burst open.

Jack stood in the doorway, his frightened expression softening when he saw her.

"Lailie… You're still here!" he said, sighing with relief.

"Sorry, I overslept," Lailie said, reaching out and petting Crimson, who was still curled in a ball on her bed.

"As long as you're still here, love. Breakfast is ready if you're hungry," Jack said, smiling his boney grin at his daughter, who smiled back.

"Ok! I'll be right down!"

Jack left and Lailie shut her door again. She put on her newly lengthened dress, put her hair in it's usual side-pony and headed to the kitchen.

"Good Morning Lailie!" Sally said cheerfully, kissing her daughter on the forehead as she put a plateful of pancakes on the table. "Did you sleep well?" Lailie smiled and nodded.

"Pancakes!" She exclaimed, grabbing the butter and syrup and dressing her three pancakes. Once she finished she thanked Sally for the delicious breakfast and went back up to her room. She put on her hooded clock, shoes and socks, put Crimson in her dress pocket and climbed down the ivy into the side yard. She unlocked the gates in front of the house and started towards the City Gates. She got some odd stares as she walked the 20 minutes walk, but she reached the gates ok and headed for the Holiday Woods to visit another Holiday.

_**Meanwhile……**_

Jack closed the door and walked into the kitchen.

"Who was that?" Sally asked, looking up from the newspaper.

"The postman. He brought me a package; probably from the Mayor or something…," Jack responded, opening the box and taking out a wad of bubble wrap. He looked at it for a second, then un-wrapped an obviously fragile object. It was a small coffin, about the size of a small trophy you would put above your fireplace. On the lid it said, 'One Day'.

"Who's it from?" Sally asked, looking over at the box. Jack picked the box up off the table.

"It doesn't say….."

"Hm, wonder what it's for." Jack shrugged and took the lid off. His mouth opened partway and his expression turned very surprised once the lid came off. He dropped the box, choking on something invisible. Sally jumped up and held her husband up, who had almost collapsed on the floor.

"Jack! Honey! What's wrong!" Sally asked quickly, fear in her eyes and worry in her voice. Jack just shut his eyes tight and went into a coughing fit. It sounded like he was trying to cough something up. After a few moments Jack stopped coughing and spun around, scratching Sally on the face as he did. Sally put her hand on her slightly bleeding cheek as she stared horrified at Jack. Jack looked extremely furious; his eye sockets were glowing blood red, his hands were clenched in tight fists, and he was in a fighting stance. He let out a soft growl.

"Jack…. What's wrong with you?" Sally whispered, her eyes watering. Jack growled, then darted from the room. Sally collapsed on the floor and cried.

Ssscccrrreeeeecccchhh.

Sally got up to answer the doorbell. "H-Hello?"

"Sally, dear! Is Jack home?" Sally looked down at the Mayor, then burst out in tears.

"Sally, what's wrong? Why is your cheek bleeding?"

"J-J-Jack… He… He," Sally stammered.

"Oh My… Did you two have a fight?"

"I w-wouldn't really c-call it a f-f-fight. More like h-he….. He lost it."

"Oh, Oh dear. Tell me everything." Sally brought the Mayor inside and told him everything about the package and how Jack scratched her cheek. The Mayor thought for a second.

"It sounds like someone sent Jack a 'One Day a Year' box."

"What's that?"

"It's a box that contains a spell. The first person to open the box gets the spell casted on them. One day a year on that day they lose all memories and turn into a monster. They're outside appearance stays the same, although the way they act is changed."

"But… who would do that to him?" Sally asked, almost in a whisper.  
"I don't know, but we need to find him immediately before he does any damage," The Mayor pointed out. Sally nodded. The two left the house and headed quickly towards Town Square, following the sounds of screams coming from citizens. Sally spotted him chasing a small girl, who was screaming her head off. He lunged at the girl, who screeched and rolled over on the ground, curling into a fetal position. Jack let out a growl, then raised his right hand.

"Jack, NO!" Sally screamed, grabbing her husband's arm, stopping it from coming down on the girl. Jack looked at Sally angrily, then grabbed her throat, picked her up and threw her into another citizen. He roared and lunged at another terrified citizen, but ended up tackling Sally. Jack growled, but his expression softened at the sight of Sally crying. His eyes stopped glowing and he blinked, wondered what was going on and why Sally was crying, and why the heck had he pinned her to the ground. After a few very short moments, however, his eyes' red glow returned and he stood up. He left Sally alone, grabbed the sword off a nearby statue, then headed for the woods.

Lailie was about to put a hand on the door to St. Patrick's Day town when she heard a soft growl behind her. She spun around to see two glowing red orb outlines.

"H-Hello?" she asked, watching the outlines shift in the shadow. Without warning, Jack jumped out of the shadow and brought the sword down over her. Lailie screamed and ducked out of the way, the sword sticking into the soft wood door. Lailie stared horrified as her father started to pry the sword form the door.

"Dad!" she whispered. Jack pulled the sword out of the bark and swung at her again. Lailie screamed, and ran as fast as she could the opposite direction, stumbling a few times. The sword came down once again and stabbed the cloak into the ground, bringing Lailie to a screeching halt. She quickly untangled herself from the garments and continued to run without it.

Jack, or course, having the long legs that he did, caught up to her quickly. So now, if Lailie didn't dodge the swings of the sword, she would probably get sliced in half. And that almost happened, as a matter of fact. Once they reached the Hourglass River (Which, I remind you, is about 2 miles away from the Holiday Doors) Jack ended up catching the tip of the sword on Lailie's middle as she was spinning around to see how close he was. She screamed, then completely blacked out.

Lailie sat up abruptly, clutching black sheets as she did so. She couldn't remember anything that had just happened. She looked around the cave-like room, then noticed she was only wearing pants and bandages covered everything from her waist to her armpits. The bandages about an inch above and to the left of her belly button were blood stained and crimson. Her head shot upwards as the door in front of her swung open. Mace walked in carrying a tray with something that looked like healing supplies and a cup filled with water. Lailie scrambled furiously to cover herself with the comforter, but ended up falling out of the bed and onto the floor. Mace looked up and saw her hit the floor with a soft thump.

"Ah, your awake," he said, striding quickly over to her with the tray. Lailie curled into a tight ball from pain, forgetting that she didn't want Mace to see her in only bandages and pants. Mace set the tray down and picked her up and set her on the bed. Lailie sucked in a painful breath of air, holding her sides.

"What… happened?" she choked, glancing at the washcloth in Mace's hand.

"I'm not sure, exactly. I just found you bleeding in the Hourglass River…," Mace responded, making a blue-ish mixture in a bowl in he tray. Lailie said nothing. Mace dropped the white cloth in the mixture, then turned and started to unwrap the bandages on Lailie from her hips. Lailie let out a noise, then smacked him.

"Ow! What was that for!" Mace asked, rubbing his cheek. "I'm just going to put some healer on it; and don't worry; Kipcha changed you." Lailie gave him a look, then let him unwind the bandages as high as she felt it needed to be. Mace took the now blue cloth and pressed it against the large but not deep gash in Lailie's middle. She let out a painful noise and shut her eyes. It stung and burned terribly. She was usually very tolerant to pain, but this made her eyes water and she gritted her teeth. Her grip on the bed sheets tightened when Mace rewet the cloth and put it back on the gash.

"Aahh…. It hurts!" She said, her eyes streaming.

"That's good. It means it's cleaning it and rebuilding the skin. Although we might have to stitch it to keep it from re-opening," Mace said, dabbing the cloth on the wound. The pain eased rapidly when the cloth was pulled away. He tossed the cloth onto the tray and picked up a jar.

"Will you… um… lay down for a moment?" Mace asked. Lailie looked at him.

"Why?" she asked.

"I need to put a different healer on your wound so that the skin repairs itself faster, but it works best when the person flat," Mace said, uncorking the jar and sprinkling the tan powder into his hand. Lailie felt a bit uneasy, but she did as she was told. Mace dropped the power in his hand onto the cut and Lailie almost instantly screamed. Mace dropped the bottle in his hand and slipped on the powder. Lailie clutched the sheets painfully, her nails ripping the fabric, but she was sure to not sit up. Mace stood up and covered the rag-doll's mouth. The powder was bubbling in the wound and Lailie's middle started to rebuild itself. The humanized wolf was trying to calm the girl, but she was interested in trying to rip up the bed sheets.

"Lailie! I know it hurts, but just calm down!" he urged, keeping a hand on her mouth. The skin connected itself together and Lailie stopped thrashing. Mace let go of the rag doll, who was out of breath and still clutching to the newly ripped sheets. She pulled her legs up onto the bed and curled herself.

"That… was the most painful thing… I have ever endured in my life…," She croaked through tears. Mace gave her a weak smiled and scooped the powder back into the jar. He hated seeing her in so much pain. He replaced the corked jar in his hand with a needle and thread. Lailie wiped her eyes with her arm, then looks at him.

"What's that for?" she asked, uncurling herself and sniffing.

"That strip of skin is going to always be thinner than the skin on the rest of your body, so we need to stitch it so it doesn't tear," Mace said, a hint of weariness in his voice.

"Well, it's not like I've never had my skin stabbed multiple times by a needle and thread before..," Lailie said, wiping her eyes again. Mace gave her another forced smile.

"Do you want to do it? Or should I?" he asked, turning back to her. The truth was, he really didn't want to inflict anymore pain on the Princess, but if she wanted him to do it he would. She shrugged, then looked down at her hands.

"Oh geeze…," she muttered.

"What is it?" Mace asked, leaning over to look at her palms. She held them up to reveal that she had gripped the sheets so hard her nails cut into her skin. The skin was pierced, but not leaking blood.

"Maybe… You should do it…," Lailie groaned, grabbing one of the bandages from the pile next to her and dabbing at the cuts. She really didn't want Mace's hands on her abs, but her hands were sore, so she could only hope he had some experience with sewing wounds. Lucky for her, the Alpha was required to know sewing incase he needed to stop a pack member from bleeding when no one's around.

"Ok." Mace fed the black thread through the eye of the needle, then had Lailie sit on the edge of the high bed. "You ready? This might hurt."

"Oh, this'll be nothing compared to that Healing stuff you put on it…"

Mace hesitated. Sure he had done this many times before, but he felt awkward stitching Lailie. Lailie glanced at him, then took a small intake of air as he put the needle through her skin. Mace glanced up at her after a small twitch of movement. She was trembling.

"Am I hurting you?" he asked, pulling the thread through and stopping.

"No no," she said, wiping her eyes again.

"Am I making you uncomfortable in any way?"

"No. It's not you, Mace."

Mace continued to sew.

"……Do you wanna talk about it?"

"Not really…"

"Ok."

Mace tied the string into a knot and broke it with his sharp teeth. He looked at it, then turned and stuck the spool and needle back onto the tray. He handed her the cup of water, then started for the door.

"Mace?" Lailie asked after taking a sip of the cool water. He turned.

"Yes?"

"Can I have my dress?"

"No."

Lailie glared at him. He just looked at her, then left, shutting the door behind him. Suddenly she was very self-conscious and realized she had spent about 20 minutes in the same room with him with just about nothing on.

**Ok, another long, hopefully exciting and extremely painful part. Aww! Mace is so understanding and caring for his little Rag-doll :D I know some of you aren't thrilled with the MacexLailie pairing, but get used to it. Wolfdog21 and I have already created their children. xP Stay tuned!**


	21. Tango

**Torn**

**Part 21: Tango**

A few days passed, Lailie staying in the Shadow Wolves Cave and almost never leaving Mace's room. Kipcha and Mace's only living relative Suna would bring her regular meals. She was becoming a bit depressed after finally remembering she was attacked by Jack. She didn't want to go home now, and the Pack counsel had agreed to let her stay for as long as she needed. It had been 3 days since Lailie had even seen Mace during the day. The only time she saw him was when they went to sleep on the large bunk bed that replaced Mace's normal bed. Crimson and her Dress were returned to her one morning by Kipcha, who was nursing a bleeding bite in her palm. This was probably the only happy moment Lailie had in the days in the Realm. She was alone most of the time, so she took up her time writing poems in a black diary given to her by Suna or playing with Crimson.

And then a week went by….. Missing signs had gone up all over the place. Even the Shadow Realm. Now, this was a problem for Lailie because it meant that either she couldn't leave Mace's room, or she couldn't leave the cave. She really didn't want to be found. What she really wanted was someone who cared for her…… She wanted to see Mace…. He was never there anymore. At all. Not even to sleep…..

Kipcha brought Lailie's lunch at 3:30. Lailie quickly shut her diary, clearly startled by the door suddenly opening. She turned onto her back, then sighed as she watched Kipcha walk over to the end table with a tray of food.

"Oh, it's just you," Lailie said, sitting up and swinging her legs off the lower bunk.

"Yeah. How have ya been?" Kipcha asked, setting the tray down.

"Fine, thanks…" Lailie grabbed the bowl of soup and spoon.

"You seem lonely."

Lailie didn't respond this time. Instead she stirred the soup lazily.

"I haven't seen Mace since he healed me…," she said to no one in particular.

"You haven't?" Kipcha asked, sitting down next to her. "That's weird. He's been quite active in the main cave." Lailie looked up at her. There was a small length of time where Kipcha and Lailie stared at each other.

"He's avoiding me….," Lailie muttered, breaking the silence. She returned her gaze to the soup.

"What? No no no! He's just been wrapped up in some matters within the Pack, that's all. Besides, don't you see him every night?"

"No… He hasn't been sleeping in here.."

There was another short silence before Kipcha got up. She walked out of the room, saying good bye before shutting the door. Lailie set the bowl back onto the tray and picked her Diary up. She opened to a random page and stared at the lyrics written sloppily on the page. It was about dancing…. She had been in the mood to dance lately, so she was writing some poems and songs about it. A light beat started in her head as she stared at the lyrics. She had memorized them, so she stood up and began to dance lightly around the room.

_"It was hot in the night as I walk down the street. To the place where I knew we would finally meet. I was humming a tune to the place on my feet. Tonight I want to tango!" _She sang, closing her eyes and lightly swaying and dancing as she continued the song. _"The sun down the lane covers me with the light. I feel fresh, I feel clean; I will see you tonight. And the rays of the suns shining light on my hair. I walked in to the bar. You were already there."_

There was a very short interlude and she transferred her spot next to the bed to in front of the door and continued to sing and lightly dance.

_"Pick me up and tango! Pick me up and tango! Pick me up and tango! Come along, set me free; everybody dance with me! ...As we move to the floor and you're smiling at me. And the band starts to play as we're moving our feet. Feel your hand on my waist; this is heaven I feel, coming closer to me as we move to the beat."_ She transferred her position again as she shut her eyes and span slowly and carefully to another spot in the room.

_"Come with me (to the Party). Dance with me (at the Party). Set me free (at the Party). Dance all night long……Pick me up and tango! Pick me up and tango! Pick me up and tango! Come along, set me free; everybody dance with me! Pick me up and tango! Pick me up and tango! Pick me up and tango! Come along, set me free; everybody dance with me!"_ Her ending position was to the left of the bed. Her hands were up and her legs crossed as she finished the song. Her eyes shot open and she lost her balance once she heard a low chuckle emit from the shadowed corner in front of her. She fell backwards, then watched as Mace walked out of the shadow.

"M-Mace!" she stuttered, feeling her face become quite hot.

"I never knew you liked the tango." Mace said, walking over to her and holding out a helping hand. Lailie took his hand.

"Well… I guess now you know," she said, feeling a little embarrassed. The moment he felt her hand in his, he smirked and lifted her up, sliding his hands down to her waist.

"Never knew that you were interested in 'sensual' dances either." He said with a barking laugh, twirling her around. Lailie laughed for the first time in almost 2 weeks. She hadn't been happy to see anyone or anything since Crimson was returned to her. But… Just seeing Mace seemed to cheer her right up.

"I thought YOU didn't like to dance," Lailie said grinning.

"I don't," he said, though he threw her into the air gently before finally letting her back down on her feet. "I'm just manhandling you."

"Oh, you wish!" Lailie laughed, twirling. Mace laughed softly as well, grinning and baring his over-grown fangs before pulling her back to him with her back to his chest.

"For someone who doesn't like dancing, you dance pretty well," Lailie said, looking up at him and resting her hands on his.

"I got forced into going to those dance lessons with you and the others in the human world, 'member?" he replied dryly, starting to sway against his will.

"Oh yeah! And all the other guys would make fun of you!" Lailie added, swaying also.

He snorted. "Don't remind me."

There was a moment of silence between the two. They both stared at the wall in front of them as they swayed slowly.

"Where have you been lately?" Lailie asked finally, almost sounding sad.

"Here.. There… Everywhere," Mace responded blandly, not taking his eyes off the wall. Lailie looked up at him.

"Oh thanks. That's helpful," she said.

"You're welcome." he said with false cheer, twirling her away from him, then went over and sat on the bed. Lailie walked to the other side and scooped up her open diary just as Mace leaned over to look at it. She stuffed it in a drawer, then sat down and started eating her almost cold soup. She heard Mace yawn a few minutes later as she set the now empty bowl on the tray Kipcha had brought. An arm wrapped around her middle before she was forced down onto the bed.

"Whoa! What are you doing!" She asked, turning a warm shade of red.

"Sleeping…." Was Mace's response.

"But it's 4 in the afternoon!" Lailie argued.

"I was up all night…." Mace yawned again. "Good night…."

"Mace! God dammit… Now I can't get up.."

Lailie crossed her arms and looked around for anything close by she could grab and smack Mace with. Unfortunately for her, there was nothing. I mean, sure there was the tray and the bowl, but she didn't want to hurt him to much. Crimson squeaked softly fromit's spot in the bottom end table drawer. Lailie had madethe drawerpadded and very squishy so it could sleep somewhere.

Lailie looked as best as she could at it. It was curled into a tight ball and also asleep. She sighed and covered her face with her hands.

"I'm not enjoying this. I'm not enjoying this. I'm not enjoying this. I'm not enjoying this…." She chanted in her head. She peeked out from her palms, then waved a finger. The upper bunk disappeared, allowing her to see the blue and white stars the ceiling twinkle and wink at them.

"Stop mocking me!" she muttered angrily to them. The top bunk appeared above them and Lailie turned over onto her stomach. She ended up being pulled closer to Mace doing so, but she didn't seem to mind. She put her head on her pillow and looked at Mace.

"_Feel your hand on my waist… this is heaven I feel…" _she mumbled in a tune, smiling softly. _"Pick me up and tango…"_ She closed her eyes with a sigh and fell asleep.

**Neh, short I know. But I thought this was a cute place to stop. BTW, I DO NOT own that song. I just love it. It's from In The Groove 2, which is a game like DDR. So I don't own it. ANYWAY, I hope you liked it. I haven't put a song in for a while, so I thought it was a nice change. Wolfdog21 is such a big help with Mace's personality, Thanks a lot girl! Stay tuned and thanks for all my reviews!**


	22. Mace's Memories

**Torn**

**Part 22: Mace's Memories**

"Where could she be?" Jack sighed and put his finger tips on his forehead. "What did I do to her….?"

Sally looked over at her husband with a worried expression. She looked up at the top of the cabinet, then turned.

"What if… We go to Tempest?" She suggested, sitting down next to Jack in a chair. "We could have her search the Realm." Jack looked over at Sally and smiled softly.

"You could be on to something," he said, sitting up straighter and turning to her. "What's the one place not even Tempest is allowed in?" Sally tilted her head and bit the corner of her lip in confusion.

"I don't know.."

"The Shadow Wolf Den!"

"But why would Lailie stay there? She wouldn't be allowed to. Besides, this is assuming she's still alive."

"Not if Mace allows her to. The Pack has to do what he says. And Sally, they didn't find a body, someone could have very well picked her up and helped her."

"But what if Boogie took her?"

"He didn't. He would have ransomed her by now."

"We still should go to Tempest and see if she knows anything."

_**Meanwhile…….**_

"Boy, you two totally look cozy."

Lailie jolted awake and pushed herself up onto her hands. Mace pushed her back down sleepily.

"Nuh… Juz five more minutes……." He mumbled. Lailie looked back as best she could over her shoulder and saw Suna carrying a tray with Lailie's dinner on it. She had a large grin on her face.

"Mace! Get off!" Lailie said, pushing Mace off the bed and almost fell off as well.

"Ow!" Mace complained, pushing himself onto his hands and rubbing his head.

"Hi Suna!" Lailie said, turning a bright shade of pink.

"Like, evening Lailie!" Suna said, giggling. Evening? How long had she slept? Lailie looked at the clock.

"Oh my god, it's already 7:30!" She asked, picking up the clock and shaking it violently. Suna replaced the lunch tray with the dinner tray.

"Were you guys like, sleeping?" she asked, giggling madly. Just the fact that Suna was laughing made Lailie and Mace turn a darker shade of Pink.

"Mace! Lailie!" Valor said from the doorway. "They want in!"

The three exchanged looks.

"Could you like, make some sense, Valor? 'Cuz you like, totally aren't," Suna said.

"….Take a wild guess," Valor said.

"I bet it's my parents..," Lailie said, sounding quite sad and annoyed.

"One point for the Princess! But there's another person with them."

The three exchanged glances again.

"Tempest," they all said at the same time.

"One point fo' each o' yas. But sorry, Lailie wins with two points," Valor said. Why ever he had kept score was beyond them. Valor turned on his heel, turning into a wolf as he did so. He trotted in the direction of the entrance to the cave. Mace sighed.

_Come out come out wherever you are..._

Lailie looked around at the two other in the room. Neither of them had spoke.

_Come out, princess… Why are you hiding?_

She looked at the two as they walked from the room.

_I know you're in here……_

Lailie just sighed and ignored the voice and wrapped her arms around herself. He's so warm….. She thought, looking towards the floor. I mustn't fall in love with him again…..

Mace, Suna and Valor walked through the black flames guarding the entrance to the cave as wolves. They padded up to Jack, Sally and Tempest. Jack and Sally looked equally worried, and Tempest just looked rather annoyed.

"Need anything, Ladies?" Mace asked with a growl as he transformed into a human. Jack's worried expression turned quite mad and he pointed a finger.

"Now listen here, Wolf boy-" he started.

"Shut it, Jack," Tempest snarled, stepping forward and getting into Mace's face. "Where is she?"

"Where's who?" Mace asked, baring his fangs.

"Like, nice outfit, Temp," Suna said, lifting Tempest's trench coat and dropping it again. She made an L on her forehead with her slender fingers. "Not." Tempest turned to her and poked her sharply on the collar bone.

"Stay out of this, you low-life," She growled. Suna coughed and backed her head away from Tempest, waving her hand in front of her nose.

"Ever like, heard of a Tic-Tac?" she asked, a disgusted look on her face as she walked towards Mace. Tempest snarled and shot a blazing white rope out of her finger. Suna giggled and appeared on the other side of Mace, next to Valor.

"Enough playing, Suna. I want both of you to go back," Mace said, not ever breaking eye contact with Tempest.

Silence…..

"Wait, ya want us t' go back inside?" Valor asked, raising a brow. Mace nodded.

"I'll howl if I need anything."

Suna and Valor gave Mace concerned looks, then turned into wolves and trotted back inside.

"I'll ask again. Where is she?" Tempest asked, grabbing the handle of the large gun strapped to her back.

"Where's who?" Mace responded calmly.

"Don't play stupid with me, Wolf. You know exactly who I'm talking about."

"I'm afraid I don't."

Tempest growled softly, scanning Mace's face. Mace could see her lips move a little, as if whispering to something unknown.

Lailie looked around a corner timidly. She looked out the opening of the cave just as Tempest's Gun was pointed at Mace, who looked completely calm. She couldn't make out what any of them were saying, but she didn't have a good feeling. She concentrated hard on them to try and listen. There was a loud pop and she was forced backwards onto the floor.

"Ow… Why didn't that work?" she asked aloud, putting a hand to her head.

_I know you're in there…… No sense trying to interfere…_

Lailie stood up and brushed off. She had become quite accustomed to hearing things, although it still creeped her out a little. There was a bright flash, and an explosion. Lailie stared horrified as she watched Mace struggle to his feet. Why were they doing this to him?

Jack yelled.

Sally screeched.

Tempest laughed.

Mace collapsed.

Lailie cried.

Tempest picked Mace up by his net shirt and held him up with one hand. She pointed her gun, and there was another explosion. Mace skidded on the dirt, leaking a purple liquid from cuts all over his body. He tried his best to even let out a small howl, but his body wouldn't allow it. Like something was keeping him from making any kind of sound at all.

Help… I need to get help….. Was the thought that flashed through Lailie's mind. She couldn't see very well from the tears that washed over her brown eyes, so she crashed into a lot of things while she went back to the Main Cave.

"Lailie! Lailie, what's wrong?" Kipcha asked, catching the rag-doll before her knees hit the cement.

"You gotta help him, Kipcha….! Please!" Lailie cried, covering her eyes.

"What? Help who? What's going on!" Kipcha shook Lailie slightly. Lailie bit her bottom lip and shook her head slowly.

"She's attacking him….. I can't do anything…. I don't want him to die…." She said. She looked and felt utterly terrified. Kipcha let go of Lailie's shoulders and called some other wolves, then rushed out of the Cave. Lailie turned and watched her and the others go, shaking.

And so, a large battle broke out between the Shadow Wolves and Tempest. Suna struggled to lift Mace onto her shoulders and bring him back into the cave while dodging claws and bursts of energy from Tempest's gun. Many of the wolves were injured badly, making Suna take trips from the battle field to the caves. Since she was the lowest ranking in the pack, she was not allowed to fight. It was all she could do to make herself useful.

The ground was almost soft from the violet blood that had sunken into the blackish grass beneath the battle. Jack and Sally had hid behind a tree to avoid getting injured, and when over half of the tree was blown away they headed as fast as they could back home. Two members of the pack were killed, and some kind of shapeless fog came out of Tempest's now crimson shoulder. She had no idea what was going on and disappeared in a flick.

And thus, the fighting ceased. It was now 8:30, and to the wolves, that was the longest hour they had ever experienced.

Lailie had cried herself into sleep with her arms and head resting on the lower bunk of the bed in Mace's room. She had tended to most of Mace's wounds, but there were some she couldn't get to unless Mace was awake.

Mace's eyelids fluttered around 9:00. He tilted his head. Lailie was still a sleep. He smiled weakly and laid a hand softly on her cheek. She jolted awake and pushed back, her face covered in a frightened expression. She let go of a held breathe, then flung her arms around Mace's neck.

"I'm so happy you're ok!" she said, careful to not hit one of his wounds. He patted her awkwardly on the back and opened his mouth to talk. No sound came out. He poked Lailie on the back. Lailie let go and kneeled by the edge of the bed.

_I can't talk!_ He mouthed to her, hoping she'd understand. Lailie bit the bottom corner of her lip and tilted her head. She looked uncannily like her mother.

_What. Happened. To. My voice?_ Mace mouthed. When Lailie still didn't understand, he motioned to the diary on top of the end table.

"Strange…. Mind if I have a look inside you?" Lailie asked after she finally got what Mace was trying to tell her. It took them 20 minutes, but she understood now, none the less. Mace quirked a brow at her. Lailie sighed and hopped onto the bed.

"I'll just do it anyway. This'll be a bit awkward," she said, placing her palms onto Mace's bare chest. They started to glow a soft blue color. Lailie shut her eyes, and concentrated.

A group of friends stood at a school dance, trying eagerly to get their friend to get up and dance with them.

A girl screamed and had a short sword shoved through her and the back of a pure white couch.

A boy pulled the trigger of the gun pointed at his head.

Two wolves fought ferociously, both almost on the brink of death.

A teenager stabbed a woman in the side.

A teenage girl leaned over a teenage boy and kissed him.

A teenage girl and boy danced softly around a room.

A teenage boy was blasted backwards by a ball of orange light.

Lailie's hands flicked off of Mace's chest. She panted lightly, looking into Mace's eyes.

"Mace… you…. Hold onto things you need to let go of," Lailie stated. Mace gave her a very weak smirk.

_I'm not allowed to let go… Eli…_ He sloppily wrote onto a piece of paper.

**Happy moments are gone. Curse 'Hide and Seek' for giving me such violent inspiration! Sorry about lack of updates. I went on vacation last week and school starts on the 7th, so I'm not sure when I'll be updating next. x.X I'm leaving you with a cliffy. Have fun trying to sort it out and stuff. Until Next time!**


	23. 6 Years Old!

**Torn**

**Part 23: 6 Years Old!**

Lailie looked at Mace's sullen face. Her heart was pounding. He seemed to still be hurting from her sudden death as a human. Her eyes burned as they welled up with tears. Why was she crying..?

Mace's warm hand touched Lailie's cheek gingerly. She opened her eyes and looked at the sympathetic half smile on his face.

_What's the use of crying? You should just keep smiling…_ a voice said in the back of her mind as Mace's thumb wiped away a tear.

"Look at me…. I don't even know why I'm crying…" Lailie said with a slight laugh. "We can't dwell on the past." After wiping her eyes with a sleeve, she placed her hands back on Mace's chest. She shut her eyes and concentrated again.

She was zooming through a red and black vortex. As she traveled the colors span around her, making it quite hard to control which direction she was headed. After a time that felt like hours, she saw a glowing white orb. She dizzily headed for it, trying her best to not smack into it. She cupped it in her ice cold hands and headed back the way she came.

"Got it," Lailie said, opening her eyes. She brought her fingers together in a point on Mace's chest. When she pulled them up the white orb floated out with it. Mace blinked at it.

"What's that?" he asked, then realized he just said something.

"It was what was stopping you from speaking," Lailie said, twirling it on both sets on finger tips. She pressed it together and with a shattering sound it exploded. She looked up at Mace and smiled.

"Now instead of you taking care of me I'm taking care of you," she said, quite cheerful now. Mace chuckled and looked towards the door. Lailie's head drooped in exhaustion. She shook her head to stay awake.

"You ok?" Mace asked.

"I'm so sleepy….." Lailie yawned. "I can't….." She fell over onto the pillow next to Mace's head.

_A blonde haired girl was sitting in her kitchen munching on some candy. She was sitting with a black haired boy and they were giggling and laughing._

"_Want to play Monopoly?" he asked._

"_Sure! But you'll have to get it from your house," the girl said. The boy got off the chair and headed for the front door._

"_Be right back," he said as he shut the door behind him. The girl popped a Tootsie Roll in her mouth and she spun boredly on the stool. She heard the front door squeak open and she stopped chewing and spinning._

"_Nick?" she asked, getting down and walking slowly to the open doorframe of the kitchen. She looked around the corner. The door was part-way open, but no one was there. She sighed and shut the door. Maybe it was just paranoia._

_The girl turned around and screamed. A tall, skinny man with raggedy black hair was standing before her, a short sword dropped at his side. His black and white pin-striped outfit almost made him look like someone who had escaped from jail. She pressed herself against the door, then screamed and ducked when the sword was flung at her. She ran back towards the kitchen, yelling and screaming for help. She jumped behind the counter. She heard the metal leave the wood of the front door and heavy footsteps entered the kitchen. She held her breath and shut her eyes._

"_Hello kitten..." said a deep male voice. The girl looked up and screamed again. She quickly scrambled away, the sword that was about to come down on her grazing the back of her head. Crimson leaked through her golden hair as she got onto her feet and started for the living room. She was dizzy and couldn't run straight, but she continued to scream for help. The girl tripped over a toy that had been left on the floor and skidded across the rug. Her glasses spiraled across the floor as she stopped in front of a white couch._

_The girl looked back as she started to get up. She put her back to the couch and tried to use it as support. The man got on his knees in front of her and pressed her shoulder back against the fabric. The sword was raised. The boy's voice rang through the living room as he shouted the girls name and for the police. Then in the flash of a bolt of lightning, the sword went right through the girl's chest. Crimson spread through the white fabric like spilled juice on a carpet._

"LAILIE!"

Lailie awoke by a smack on the face. She stopped screaming and breathed heavily. Mace was looming over her, fright and extreme worry written all over his pale face. To both of their surprise, she startled Mace by wrapping her arms around his neck. Mace was nearly pulled down on top of her from her grip.

"Lailie what happened?" Mace asked. Instead of answering, Lailie started to cry into Mace's bare shoulder. Both of their hearts and minds were racing. Mace sat Lailie up and embraced her in a comforting hug.

"It's ok… Everything's ok now.. You're safe..," Mace cooed, brushing the hair on the back of her head. Lailie continued to sob into his shoulder, not knowing why the flashback had affected her so much. It was the past, and nothing could be changed. Jack stabbed her, and that was that. She'd seen it in so many ways before. Mace has clenched onto his human life so tightly it wouldn't leave him…. Maybe that realization was what caused Lailie to break down and realize how heart wrenching and sad it must have been for him.

Lailie pulled back from Mace and wiped her eyes on her sleeve. Mace reluctantly let go of her and left a hand on her shoulder.

"You ok?" he asked. Lailie nodded and looked at the clock. 4:00 am.

"I'm sorry.. for waking you…," she said taking in a deep, shuddering breath.

"It's ok. I was having trouble sleeping anyway," Mace said with a small smile.

"I bet I helped a lot…." Lailie said, feeling bad and wiping her eyes again. Mace chuckled.

"Do you want some fresh air?"

Lailie nodded.

The two climbed off the bed and opened the door. They walked down the hallway and Mace paused at a large mural of Shadow Wolves.

"Want the scenic route or the shortcut?" he asked.

"Shortcut, please…" Lailie said quietly. He placed his hand over one of the eyes and phased through the wall. For an instant Lailie had the feeling that he left her, but the wall opened and exposed the dark grass and chilly air of the Shadow Realm. She blinked, then stepped through just before the wall closed behind her. She inhaled the crisp air and sat down against the side of the cave.

"Feel any better?" Mace asked, appearing next to her. Lailie smiled at him and nodded.

"Yeah," she said, looking back towards the trees. She shivered. "Is it always this cold at night here?"

"Nah," Mace said. "It's just because it's winter. It's probably snowing in town."

"It doesn't snow here?"

"Not much. Last time it snowed was the year we came back here…"

"Oh…"

Mace looked at Lailie. "You look cold."

"Aren't you?" Lailie asked, looking at him.

"A little. I'm used to the cold. Do you want a jacket?"

"Please…"

"Be right back." Mace disappeared through the wall of the cave with little wisps of black smoke trailing him. Suddenly Lailie felt scared. She was half expecting someone to come out of nowhere and attack her. She hugged herself a little tighter, keeping an eye on everything around her. A few moments later Mace appeared next to her again holding a jacket. She smiled and took it from him, glad he was back.

"Thanks," she said.

"No problem," he responded. There was a period of time when the two were silently staring each other. Snow started to fall lightly around them, drawing their attention away. Lailie clenched the coat as if it were saving her life, and smiled slightly at Mace.

"I… I think I'll go back inside…," Lailie said, getting up and heading for the entrance of the cave. Mace watched her for a moment, then stood and took her arm.

"This'll be quicker," He said, tightening his grip on her arm. He leaned against the stone wall and sunk into it, Lailie and black tendrils following him through the rock.

There were swirls of black, green and purple all around them. It smelled faintly of warm, rotten eggs, which when mixed with the dizzying colors made Lailie nauseated. They appeared back in Mace's room in no time at all, and Mace let go of Lailie's arm.

Mace suddenly dropped to the floor with a thump. A heavy cloak was dropped upon Lailie, who then felt herself grasped and lifted completely off the ground. She struggled and screamed in the unfortunately strong grip of her kidnapper. The thick cloak muffled her screams as it was pulled tighter around her body like a straight jacket. Despite her furious kicking and struggling, she was thrown unceremoniously over a shoulder and taken quickly from the room. After a few more harsh kicks to the side of her kidnapper and some more screams, she was knocked senseless from a blow to the head.

Kipcha stirred in her bed. She sat up and yawned, eyeing her clock for the time. It was blank. She raised a brow at it and hopped off her bed to flick on the light. It wouldn't turn on. Heavy feet and a strangled scream passed her door. Kipcha threw open her door just in time to see a flash of long red hair turn the corner. She looked down the hallway the other way and realized the only thing it led to was Mace's room. She turned out of her room and sped down the dark hallway and up a flight of steps. She turned a corner and sped up another flight on her toes. She reached Mace's room and knelt by his side. She turned him over onto his back and laid an ear on his chest. Mace coughed slightly and his eyelids fluttered.

Lailie awoke with a throbbing head. Light cascaded the eerie room from the small window towards the ceiling. She sat up on the hard bed with torn sheets. Her dress felt quite baggy on her body and one sleeve slipped over a shoulder. It seemed to take her ages to land on the floor from the bed. It was then she realized her ankles and wrists were tied with a thin but strong cable. Her dress dragged on the floor as she hopped her way over to a mirror on the other side of the room. She tripped a generous number of times on the way, but continued on her slow journey. When she reached the dusty mirror, she fell backwards onto her rump and blinked at her reflection.

Her features were considerably softer and rounder, not to mention smaller. Her large brown eyes sparkled dully in the light. She looked shrunken; like a 6 year old in her big sister's dress. A small fang poked out of her upper lip and her short puffy hair was torn at the ends. She wondered if this was what she would have looked like if she grew up in Halloween Town.

Lailie examined the cords binding her wrists carefully. She could probably get them loose with her teeth, but it would take time. Her stomach growled angrily at her. She looked up at the high ceiling and listened to her stomach complain. How long had it been since she had last eaten?

"Like my home, little princess?"

Lailie's head turned to the doorway. An eerie but pretty woman leaned against the doorway, her electric green eyes piercing. Torn red hair framed the left side of her face, while the entire right side was hidden by the blanket of red. It circled her head, but was only as long as the middle of her neck. The rest of her hair was up in thick, torn at the edges pigtails that reached her waist. Her pale purple and green skin clashed slightly with her short dark blue and yellow top and matching pants. Small grey and black feathered wings floated behind her and a small trickled of blood dripped from her closed mouth. She looked about 20.

The woman chuckled and disappeared in a small puff of smoke. She appeared in front of the mirror and lifted Lailie's small body. Lailie kicked and started to wail in the woman's strong hold. The woman frowned.

"What, do you not like Auntie Citra?" the woman cackled mockingly.

"What do you want with me!" Lailie yelled, still struggling in Citra's hold.

"In time, little princess. In time."

"I'm not little!"

"My potions have that effect of people."

"What effect?"

"Didn't you wonder how you got so young?"

Actually, Lailie hadn't thought about why she was the size of a 7 year old. In fact, she didn't even know what day, or time it was. All she knew right now was that she needed to get out of here, and fast.

Lailie bit down hard, her small fangs sinking into Citra's arm. Citra yelped and dropped the small rag doll. Lailie stumbled to her feet and started to hop from the room, but didn't make it very far before tripping. She sat up and started to work the cables off her hands. Citra growled and started for Lailie, long red nails extending from her fingers. Lailie, desperate to get away, cut the strings holding her hands and feet on her body, scooped them up and started for the door on her now stump legs, a few leaves trailing behind her. She pushed open the heavy door, shut it, and barricaded it just in time to lock Citra out of the hallway. Lailie slumped onto the floor and started to sew her hands and feet back on with her teeth and pocket sewing kit.

Lailie snapped the string on her remaining foot, wiggled it, and stood up. Just then the red light on the wall flashed, but no sound came.

A silent alarm.

Lailie hiked up her dress and started running down the hallway. A door to her left opened and an oozing monster came out of it. Lailie screamed, dodged the monsters huge claw and ran a little faster. A monster of similar sorts came out of a door on her right. Lailie bounced onto her hands, jumping over the other humongous claw that was swiped at her. She continued to scream as she ran down the hall, not knowing where she was going. She started to cry after a third monster tried to attack her. Just as she couldn't take it anymore, Valor materialized through the stone floor in front of her. He jumped back a step, not knowing there would be four monsters and a little girl charging straight for him. Lailie lunged into his arms, tears staining her soft cheeks. Valor quickly sunk into the floor to avoid getting killed by the claw coming at him.

Lailie continued to bawl into Valor's as he stood silently in the swirling vortex of dark colors. Valor didn't know who she was at first, and wondered why she even trusted someone who appeared out of nowhere. After a moment or two, he got an idea of why.

"Pr-Princess!" he asked the girl sitting in his arms. Lailie sniffed and lifted her head to look up at Valor's face, tears still staining her frightened face. "Lailie, wha's goin' on! Why are ya so small, aye?"

"I don't know!" She cried. "I don't know anything!"

"Mace and Kipcha 'ave been worried sick, ya know! You've been missin' fer two days! We all thought ya were dead er sumthin'."

This didn't help Lailie at all. She was now a 6 year old, had just been scared out of her wits by four monsters and a lunatic girl named Citra, now she finds out she was asleep for two days and thought to be dead. It was all too complicated for her brain, so she continued to wail.

"Oi! Calm down, Princess!" Valor said, starting to walk forward. After a few minutes of walking, Lailie fell asleep.

**You guys dun like this story anymore, do ya? No one reviews anymore! Is my story really THAT bad! The only two I know that still read it are Wolfdog21 and my friend Cammie! It says R&R, people! Even if it's a flame, REVIEW! I want to know ppls thought on it.**


	24. Insane Much?

**Torn  
Part 24: Insane Much?**

"No luck?"

Mace looked up at Kipcha after he materialized through the floor of the main cave. "No…."

"Where'd you check?"

"Oogie's place. I searched all the rooms and even asked Wednesday, but she wasn't there. I'm guessing you didn't find her either?"

Kipcha leaned her head back against the front of the couch. "Nope. I practically searched town. She wasn't anywhere." Mace sighed and plopped on the couch, his knees next to Kipcha's head. She looked up at him sympathetically.

"We'll find her. Somehow." She patted his knee. There was a loud thunk from the wooden coffee table in front of them. Valor's head sunk through the floor and his body reappeared in front of the table. He was carrying what looked like a bundle of fabric and a mass of hair over his shoulder.

"Didn't find her?" Kipcha asked, raising a brow at the bundle. Valor smirked and shook his head.

"Tha'd where you'd be wrong, shelia!" Valor said, patting the bundle gently with his hand. Kipcha gave him a look as if he were crazy. Valor rolled his eyes and spun on his heel so his back was facing his two friends. Lailie's arms were draped over his shoulder as she quietly slept, slightly drooling. Mace's eyes widened and he sat on the edge of the couch.

"Is that Lailie?" He asked loudly.

"Aye. Wanna hold 'er?" Valor shoved the girl into Mace's arms before Mace had time to get in a word. Lailie let out a small noise, yawned, and rubbed her eyes. To Mace, it was the cutest thing he had ever seen. And that's saying something, since he doesn't call stuff cute. Lailie blinked her large eyes up at him, then smiled.

"Mace!" she squealed. Mace laughed slightly and hugged the six year old rag doll.

"You're ok!" he exclaimed. After he released her, Lailie jumped off his lap and ended up tripping over the long dress. Her collar fell off her shoulders and her feet tangled in the patched fabric. The three wolves started laughing.

"Shut up!" Lailie said irritably, standing up and pulling the collar over a shoulder.

"So, where'd ya find her, Valor?" Kipcha asked. Valor stood up straight and pointed a thumb to his bare chest.

"I foun' 'er at ol' Beate's place," he said, sounding quite proud of himself.

"You mean that crazy Cyclops who moved here a while ago?" Mace asked.

"But the lady said her name was Citra," Lailie said, climbing onto the couch.

"Beate is a creepy woman, Lailie. She has a split personality; fits right in with Town," Kipcha explained.

"Split… Pesronatily?" Lailie asked, tilting her head. Obviously her vocabulary was reduced to a six year olds as well.

"That's where you sometimes turn into a different person, like some of the humans who live in Insane Asylums," Mace said.

"And you do bad stuff?"

Kipcha nodded. "And when you turn back to normal you have no memory of what you did."

Lailie glanced up at the cave's ceiling as she thought. After a few moments of silence, Valor cleared his throat.

"We all should go t' bed," he said, poking the coffee table with his shoe. Kipcha and Mace stood up.

"That'd be smart, since its Midnight," Kipcha said, pointing a thumb at the clock on the wall next to them. Lailie yawned as Mace picked her up.

"Do we have any clothing that'll fit Lailie for the night?" he asked, putting the girl on his shoulders. Kipcha and Valor exchanged glanced, then Kipcha dug through a bag up against the wall. She tossed a small set of PJ's to Mace, hoping they'd fit. Mace took the clothing and held onto Lailie's bare feet.

"Thanks.. See you guys in the morning," he said, turning and walking up a set of stairs. When they go to his room, Lailie was half asleep and yawning ever minute or so. By the time Mace set her down and got the clothing out from under his arm, Lailie was curled on the covers asleep. Then he realized, _how is she supposed to get changed if she's asleep?_ Trying to avoid changing her himself, he shook her softly.

"Lailie, you need to change," he said, leaning over. Lailie whined and curled into a tighter ball, sinking her body further into the dress. Mace shook her again. The rag-doll swatted at him with a small hand and whined louder. Mace sighed and pulled her into a sitting position. This was easier said than done. Lailie was tangled in the dress and she didn't exactly WANT to sit up; and when your six, whatever you demand needs to be done.

"Lailie, c'mon, I don't want to have to change you," Mace said, watching the girl flop back over on the bed after he let go of her arms. "I'm tired too, so the faster you change the quicker you can sleep." Lailie groaned and slipped of the bed, snatching the PJ's from his hand as she did so. She headed for the bathroom, tripping over her large dress as she did so. After a few minutes, she came back out in the solid purple PJ's with her dress draped over her head. She walked blindly back towards the bed and crashed into the end table.

"Ow!"

"That's what you get for obstructing your vision," Mace said with a laugh.

"Shut up. I want to go to sleep," Lailie complained, throwing the dress at him and leaping onto the bed. She disappeared under the black covers. Mace chuckled, then climbed onto the top bunk.

The next morning, Lailie awoke still curled in the covers, but she felt like she couldn't breathe. She sat up and rubbed her eyes, then felt a button on her PJ's come undone. She looked down at herself and realized she was her normal age and size again. She fell off the bed from shock, then snatched her dress off the floor. Mace leaned lazily over the top bunk.

"Wazzup?" he asked half asleep.

"Just go back to sleep," she said, covering herself. Mace blinked, then rolled back over. Lailie sighed, then got up and headed for the bathroom. On the way, Mace decided to roll back over and watch her. He let out a noise that sounded like a strangled snort and a choke, drawing Lailie's attention to him. Lailie yelled and threw the nearest thing at him.

"Don't look, you pervert!"

"Sorry!"

"You're such a liar, turn back around!"

"Fine, fine!"

Lailie watched him turn back around, then draped her dress over her shoulders to cover her backside. She shut and locked the door to the bathroom, then tossed her dress onto the counter. She took off the slightly torn at the edges PJ's and pulled back the shower curtain. As the water warmed up, she rummaged for a brush in the drawers. Her hair was a tangled mess and took a minute or two to completely comb through. As she stared at herself when she combed her hair, she noticed a scar sitting above the center of her chest. It was in the shape of a very skinny diamond; the shape of the blade of a sword. She ran her fingers along it softly.

As she let the warmth of the water blanket her, Lailie thought; about her family, about the scar, about her past life, about Mace, about other towns. Her eyebrows dipped in a silent rant. And she thought, 'Why am I the one who always has to suffer?'

She dried herself off with a towel and quickly changed. She stormed from the bathroom, her dripping and stuck together hair mixed with her angered face, giving her a creepy look. Mace was in the middle of making the bunk bed.

"Wake up on the wrong side of the bed this morning?" Mace commented, only to get his net shirt jerked forward and his face an inch away from the growling rag-doll. "Whoa, no need for violence!"

"Take me back home," she demanded through gritted teeth.

"But I thought you-"

"JUST DO IT!"

"Doing it!"

Mace sunk through the floor, taking Lailie's wrist with a hand so she didn't rip his shirt as she went though the floor. He dropped her off in her room a few minutes later. He would've stayed, but he was yelled at again, so he left her with a concerned look

Lailie threw open her closet and snatched a short, sleeveless dark green velvet dress off a hanger. The bottom of it was cut into long points. She put on a matching dark green velvet choker that covered the stitch around her neck and some dark green, skin tight shorts that flared up in little points. She tore through her closet, grabbing long dark purple platform boots that went up her leg to just below her shorts. Her arms were covered with dark green velvet that was shredded at the edges and tied to her upper arm with dark purple fabric. She combed through her hair once more, then put it up into pigtails and put large wing-like dark green hair bands over the rubber bands. Being careful to stay quiet, she snuck out back to the tool shed.

Hammer? No….. Axe? Too stereotyped… Shovel? Too weak…. Lawnmower? WAY too stupid….. Chainsaw…. That's it; a chainsaw. Lailie took the blood-red chainsaw off its hooks on the wall and set it on the counter in front of her. Her hand ran over the surface of the smooth silver blade. Yes.. This will do nicely. She shut the door to the shed and walked silently out of the backyard gate. She was then greeted by Zero, who barked loudly and blocked her path.

Sally leaned out her bedroom window and watched as Lailie tricked Zero and ran past him. She narrowed her eyes, then started down the stairs calling for Jack.

"HOLD IT!"

Lailie ignored the order that came booming out the front door and continued to run for the gate. A boney hand grasped her wrist and yanked her backwards. She was spun around to be seen from the front. Her bangs shadowed her eyes.

"What are you doing on my property without my permission?" Jack ordered, not realizing he was talking to his own daughter. Lailie snapped the fingers in the arm that was raised above her head by Jack, then tilted her head to look at him.

"Oh my-" Jack stuttered, releasing the girl and covering his mouth. Lailie's blank eye sockets bled as her blood smeared visage showed sharp teeth in her grin. She turned and ran, going through the gate like a ghost. In a snap, her face was back to normal.

She sat atop her gravestone a little while later, her mind clouded with thoughts of murder and blood. She revved the chainsaw, then sliced one of the pumpkins she littered by her feet. It went through the stem like it was paper. She smiled menacingly, then headed for the woods.

"No! Ariel, turn the light back on!" A girl yelled to her sister from her bed.

"I can't sleep with the light on, Carrie," Ariel complained, leaving the light off.

"Will you two shut up and go to sleep?" another girl whined from her bed.

"But I'm afraid-"

"_Of the darkness?"_

The three girls looked around after hearing the 4th voice. Ariel lunged onto Carrie's bed, and the third girl sat up.

"_You shouldn't be afraid of the darkness…"_ The voice said from another corner of the room. The third girl ran to her sisters.

"_You should be afraid of what's lurking in it!"_ The voice whispered into Carrie's ear. A silhouette appeared in a corner and the revving of a chainsaw drowned out the screams of the sisters. The parents rushed to the scene, but when they got there, all that was left of their daughters were the bloodstains on the bed and carpet, and a snip of each one of their hair.

A group of four walked down the street, all dressed in black. They had seemingly just come from a funeral for a dear friend, for they talked about death.

"Have you ever wondered what happens when you die?" one of them asked.

_"Wanna find out?"_

One accused the other of talking until they were convinced none of them had spoken.

_"I said, wanna find out?"_ The group saw a silhouette appear before them, carrying a chainsaw. Their screams could barely be heard under its whine as it sliced through something soft. When the police got there, all that was left was blood pouring over the sidewalk and into the street, and a snip of each one's hair.

There were many reports of murders like these two; friends, family or police only finding puddles of blood and a little bit of hair. And not just in the human world. In other holiday towns, as well. In fact, it got so out of hand, the Holiday Leaders gathered to go talk to Jack, who hadn't had ANY missing reports.

Sccrreeaacchhh!

"I gots it!" Kyle yelled as he darted on his sock covered toes for the door. Kevin pushed him before he opened the door, then opened it himself. He was stared at the tall and short men and animals before him.

"We're here to see Jack," Santa said. Kevin smiled, then grabbed his brother's arm and dragged him up the stairs. Jack and Sally came down a few moments later.

"What's the matter? Please do come in and make yourselves comfortable," he said, motioning for the living room. The leaders came in single file and sat down on the two couches. Jack stood in between the edges of both couches and Sally got some coffee.

"Jack, are you aware of the slaughter going on in our towns?" Cupid said, poking at one of his arrows.

"I have no idea what you are saying, Cupid," Jack said.

"Let me put it this way," Cupid leaned forward. "I rule the town of love. My town's color is red. Right now, the only red I see is from blood, and everyone's hearts are broken."

"In thees town, all of your citizens are shtill alive. How izzat possible, hm?" St. Patrick pointed out. Jack blinked.

"Aha! I KNEW you had something to do with this!" Santa blurted suddenly, causing everyone to jump.

"What are you talking about Sandy?" Jack asked, looking utterly bewildered. Santa thrust a picture of Lailie in his direction. Jack was almost on the verge of tears.

"This girl is the one accused of all these killings, and you have a picture of her sitting in your living room!" Santa sounded furious.

"Are you accusing me of telling my 14 year old DAUGHTER to go and kill people!" Jack yelled, becoming outraged himself.

"How could you tell?" the Easter Bunny said, twitching her whiskers.

"But, we haven't even seen Lailie since the day after Halloween. We've searched and searched, but she hasn't been anywhere," Sally said, coming into the room with a tray covered in cups.

"We have evidence that shows she came from this town. And whether or not she's your daughter, you have leadership over her," Pilgrim Jacob said, tilting his black hat slightly. Jack sighed.

"How many deaths altogether?" he asked, taking a swig of coffee.

"96," Rabbi Tevel said, quirking a brow. Jack choked on his coffee.

"96!" he asked, gasping for air.

"And that's just in dees townz. Dare have been many human deathz alsho," St. Patrick stated, taking a tiny sip of his coffee.

_"Talking about me, eh?"_

The leaders and Sally looked around, but the voice's owner was no where in sight.

_"I'll just tell you all now, the killing won't stop for a while; and don't think you're gunna catch me. I'm a quick little devil."_ There was an eerie cackle, then silence.

Lailie appeared in her room, still laughing. She was greeted by Crimson attaching itself to her face and squealing happily. Lailie staggered backward, then ripped the Gurit off her face.

"Crimson!" she said, putting it to her blood splattered cheek. It squeaked happily and licked her. It let out a noise of delight, then continued to lick the blood off her face. Lailie giggled, then smiled evilly.

"You like blood, eh?" she asked, pulling Crimson off her face to look at it. It squeaked and licked its muzzle.

"You wanna go kill with me?" she asked, her grin broadening at her pet's response of agreement.

**Weren't expecting violence, were you? o0 Sorry! I wasn't gunna stay Happy Peppy Six Year Old foreva! xP Mwahaha, this story is gunna make my parents get me a psychiatrist or sumthing….. Next part hopefully won't be as violent…. x.X**

**Jack Nightmare 2 U – I realize she keeps getting kidnapped… That was what, the 4th or 5th time? She won't get kidnapped again tho, I promise. **

**RagdollBride – Mwaha! Mesa glad you still like it! xP**


	25. A Happy Ending

**Torn**

**Part 25: An Happy Ending. **

Lailie cackled, then put a hand on the window ledge and threw herself feet first out the window. Crimson latched onto her hair band and bounded onto her shoulder after Lailie landed. She got out of her crouched position, grabbed her chainsaw and started for the forest. Unfortunately, she rounded the house just as the Holiday Leaders left.

"Look! There she is!" Santa yelled, pointing to Lailie.

"Dar she blows!" the Easter Bunny exclaimed with a pointing finger.

"What the hell, Bunny?" Cupid asked, raising a brow at the rabbit. The Easter Bunny just shrugged.

"She'z getting avay!" St. Patrick blurted, starting to run after the rag-doll. Lailie broke the chains tied to the gate and welded them back together with a flame that came out of her finger. She pulled her right eyelid down and stuck out her tongue, then turned and ran off.

Jack and Sally were beside themselves. Was that really their daughter that had just outrun the other Holiday Leaders carrying that chainsaw? They just couldn't believe it. Sally started bawling, shaking her head in disbelief.

Lailie headed back for the Graveyard with Crimson climbing all over her. When she opened the gates she heard the snow crunch beneath someone else's feet. She dived behind a tombstone, then peeked her head out. Mace kicked the snow from the ground looking rather sullen, his clawed hands in his pockets. His black hair was dotted with cold snowflakes. Lailie got up and walked over to him cautiously. He didn't hear her, and obviously didn't see her when she walked in front of him. She waved in hand in front of his dazed white eyes, but in return he continued walking in the snow.

"Mace!" Lailie called to him. Once again, he didn't respond. She treaded after him. "Can you… Not hear me?" Mace continued his walk, leaving Lailie to stand in the snow. Lailie gritted her teeth angrily, then spun around and ran for the crypt to the human world. Welp, there was one more person who hated her….

She chased the shopping humans down the streets and into alleys before killing them. She was quite angry, for reasons she didn't know. She wouldn't leave a town until she was literally standing in a puddle of snow and blood. It was December, so there were many men, woman, and children out Christmas shopping. But she didn't have any limits. She killed all that unfortunately stumbled across her path. She started using other things besides her chainsaw. She used her fingernails, and once even used a pole. She was almost arrested and shot four times, but she just dodged the bullets and killed the officers.

Screams ran through the air as a young girl who had tripped was cut completely in half. Sirens rang through the chilly air and citizens ran for their lives. Lailie fell to her knees…. She was beginning to crack. Blood soaked into the cold snow and into Lailie's dress. Tears started to wash away the splattered blood on her face. She looked at her blood covered hands, then at the dead girl in front of her. She keeled over, suddenly sick to her stomach. Transparent red tears fell to the snow as the cop cars screeched to halt at the curb. She didn't even look up as the cops came around with their guns and lifted her off her knees. Crimson lunged onto Lailie from his spot on the snow and growled menacingly. Lailie shook her hung head.

"No Crimson… It's over. I give up," she said. "I can't do this anymore."

"Good girl. C'mon, in the car," the female cop who was holding onto her left arm said, guiding her to one of the cop cars. Another cop took Lailie's stitched wrists and put cold metal handcuffs on them. Crimson snarled and bit one of the cops when it tried to take it off Lailie's head.

"Dang! Get me a cage for this one!" the cop yelled, nursing his bleeding hand.

"Leave it alone, please…. It's just a baby..," Lailie said quietly as Crimson jumped into her cupped hands resting on her knees.

Lailie stared out the caged back window of the police car. Snow fell silently in the air, swaying back and forth as the soft breeze pushed it along. The cop driving the car looked in his rear view mirror at Lailie, then back at the road.

"How old are you? You seem pretty young," he said, gripping the steering wheel. Lailie didn't take her eyes off the snow.

"14."

"Why'd you start killing so many people? You could get a life sentence in jail, or even death yourself, for killing."

"I don't need to worry… about death."

"And why is that?"

"I'm already dead."

The cop sent Lailie a look through the mirror, then concentrated on the road. As they neared the station, the cop looked back at Lailie.

"What's your name, kid?"

"Eliza." Lailie responded.

"Eliza what?"

"Eliza Walker."

The cop picked up a Walkie-talkie and spoke into it. "I got her name."

"What is it?" a male voice on the other side asked.

"Her name's Eliza Walker, she's 14 years old."

Lailie was taken to a cell in the station. The guard who locked the cell was hesitant about letting Crimson stay with her, but he allowed it. He walked back up the hallway and to the main office, where two officers stood over a computer.

"Here she is. Eliza Walker," one of them said, double clicking on a file. "Hmm… She doesn't seem to have any criminal reports, although she tried to stop a guard from taking her friend Nick away after he got in a fight… But he's now deceased.."

"Wait, scroll back up," the other officer said, poking the screen. "Look, it said Eliza Walker was murdered by an unidentified man on Halloween, 2 years ago." The two guards exchanged looks.

"I told you I was already dead," said a female voice behind them. The two guards turned to see Lailie standing before them, along with two adults and three small children.

The man was quite tall, with cold green eyes, a mop of black hair, and a pin-striped suit. The woman came up to his shoulder, her long red hair blending with the patches in her long dress. Two of the children were male, and looked to be twins. Both were wearing gray jogging outfits and had thick black hair. The other child was female, had bright white hair, sparkling gray eyes and a long black and purple dress.

"How did you-? Where did you-? Augh, I need a new job," One of the cops said, putting a hand to his forehead.

"We'll take it over from here, officers. Thank you for getting her for us. We deeply appreciate it," The man said. In a spin, his body lost all its meat and his suit sucked in. He was a walking skeleton. "But for now, we'll have to erase your memories." Lailie reached out and put her index fingers on the officers' forehead. There was a snap, and they fainted. Jack turned back into a human and turned to Lailie with a frighteningly angry look.

"We'll talk with you once we get home," he said, wagging a finger, then taking her arm and leading her from the station.

The family stepped through a crypt door and down a long hallway of stone. They emerged in the town's graveyard and walked swiftly home before citizens could ask questions.

"Lailie, go get showered and changed. We'll talk once you're done," Sally said, kissing Lailie on the forehead and pointing her to the stairs. Lailie smiled slightly, then headed up the stairs. Crimson looked at her and licked some blood off her cheek. Lailie smiled at it as if to say she was ok. She grabbed her black and purple PJ's out from under her pillow and headed for the bathroom.

The red water swirled down the drain as Lailie scrubbed her body free from blood that wasn't hers. The warm water felt good as it dripped down her back and arms. Lailie shut her eyes and tilted her head back before reaching from the shampoo.

"Now love, we want a full explanation of why you did this terrible thing," Jack said, folding his arms on the kitchen table. Lailie played with her wet hair before she answered.

"…To show people what I go through, I guess…." She said, picking at the grain in the wooden table.

"What's that mean?"

"…I was overwhelmed with thoughts of my past, that's all.. I just kinda lost it all and started killing to relieve stress.."

"How many humans and holiday people did you kill?" Sally asked.

"..Er…" Lailie hesitated.

"C'mon. Answer your mother," Jack urged calmly.

"..148," Lailie said quietly, sinking into her chair. Sally choked softly and Jack put a hand to his forehead.

"But I learned something…. About you and mom," Lailie added, sitting up again. "Sometimes… When I would kill children, the parents would interfere. Like they way you did with Boogie all those times; risking something to save their children. The things they said, the way they acted, made me realize how much you guys would lose.. Just to keep your family safe." Jack looked at Lailie, then stood. He walked over to Lailie, who had tears glistening in her eyes.

"I've missed you… Daddy…" she said, throwing her arms around him. A broad grin broke out over his skeleton face at her saying, 'Daddy'. When was the last time she called him that? He couldn't remember.

"I'm just glad your safe, my little one." He said, getting onto his knees and hugging his daughter back. Everything between them was suddenly straightened out. She knew they loved her dearly, and her siblings knew that too. They were a family again. Just one big, happy family. Maybe Lailie's killing spree was for the better.

The next morning Lailie awoke before everyone else. She threw on an old Christmas Dress of hers that still fit, a scarf, and her boots. She combed her hair, brushed her teeth, and headed to get the paper. When she stepped outside, Mace stood in her yard, staring up into the hall window. She frowned and walked in front of him. His white eyes looked down at her.

"Mace…. Even if you can't hear me…." She started, looking around for any watchers, but the town was still in sleep. "I love you more than you will ever know…" She wrapped her arms around him, then felt herself being lifted off the snow covered ground. Mace spun in a circle, his face covered in happiness as he set Lailie back on the ground.

"Is that a promise, Princess?" Mace asked, pulling her close to him.

"You know it!" Lailie giggled, wrapping her arms around his neck. She stood on her toes and planted a kiss on his cheek, then pulled away. Mace put a hand to his cheek, then sunk into the snow, grinning from ear to ear. Lailie grabbed the paper and opened the door a little before looking back at where Mace had sunk into the ground.

_I love you…And I always will._

_**The end!**_

**-cries- I hoped you like my story! I wanted to make this part longer, but I couldn't. Sorry! sniff I hope you'll read my other stories once they are put back up!**


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